With the midterm elections fast approaching, Tom Steyer, a Democratic activist and California billionaire, is adding another $2 million to help Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum’s gubernatorial campaign.
In an interview with CNN, Steyer, who’s leading an opposition to get President Trump impeached, commented that “If you were going to choose a single race that has the most national significance, it would be the governor's race in Florida.”
Steyer went on to explain what he believes makes Gillum an important candidate, detailing that “here you have a young African-American that is straightforward on education, good on climate, took on the NRA, straightforward on healthcare, has talked a lot about justice and the criminal justice system and supports impeaching the President.”
NextGen America, an organization that Steyer funds, has already invested $5 million to helping Mayor Gillum get elected. On Twitter, the group released news of the additional $2 million being invested with the message that “We’re in it to win it. Andrew Gillum is the future of the Democratic Party and the future of America.”
Maya Humes, a spokeswoman for the group, commented that “Our goal is to make it easy and convenient for young people to vote. We want them to have all the relevant information right at their fingertips. That’s why we’re reaching out through text to let them know when early voting starts, to direct them to resources on amendments and candidate stances, and more. For the same reason, we’ve invested in digital ads to reach over a million young people.”
This, Steyer hopes, will lead to Gillum’s election because Steyer argues that impeachment is going to drive Democrats to not stay home and instead vote in the midterms.
Steyer comments, “Andrew Gillum is straightforward and speaks the truth and that is why I think we got such a big turnout in the primary and why we will have an even bigger turnout in November.”
