{"id":105837,"date":"2018-10-08T15:11:43","date_gmt":"2018-10-08T19:11:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/?p=105837"},"modified":"2018-10-08T15:11:43","modified_gmt":"2018-10-08T19:11:43","slug":"billionaires-soros-and-steyer-donated-big-cash-to-gillums-primary-success","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/?p=105837","title":{"rendered":"Billionaires Soros and Steyer Donated BIG Cash to Gillum&#8217;s Primary Success"},"content":{"rendered":"<header class=\"\">\n<h1 class=\" \">Steyer, Soros spearhead $650K cash infusion for Gillum in Florida governor&#8217;s race<\/h1>\n<\/header>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>\n<div id=\"attachment_105838\" style=\"width: 1170px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/static.politico-1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-105838\" class=\"size-full wp-image-105838\" src=\"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/static.politico-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1160\" height=\"629\" srcset=\"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/static.politico-1.jpg 1160w, https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/static.politico-1-300x163.jpg 300w, https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/static.politico-1-768x416.jpg 768w, https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/static.politico-1-1024x555.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1160px) 100vw, 1160px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-105838\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The sudden cash infusion \u2014 which coincides with a pro-Andrew Gillum $3.5 million get-out-the-vote effort by a coalition of liberal groups \u2014 comes five days before the Aug. 28 primary. | AP Photo<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<footer class=\"meta\">\n<p class=\"byline\">By\u00a0<a class=\"url fn\" href=\"http:\/\/www.politico.com\/states\/florida\/staff\/marc-caputo\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"author\">MARC CAPUTO<\/a><br \/>\nPOLITICO<\/p>\n<p class=\"byline\">MIAMI \u2014 Liberal billionaire donors Tom Steyer and George Soros announced Thursday that they\u2019re leading a group of donors making a $650,000 cash infusion into the gubernatorial campaign of Andrew Gillum \u2014 a move aimed at showing that Florida\u2019s Democratic Party can be a proving ground for modern progressives.<\/p>\n<\/footer>\n<p>\u201cHe\u2019s a really unusual candidate,\u201d Steyer said of Gillum in an interview with POLITICO. \u201cYou can see we don\u2019t often get involved in D-on-D so it must be because we have such high regard for him, for the ideas he represents and what he can do for Florida.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"story-interrupt format-s pos-alpha predetermined fixed-story-third-paragraph\">\n<div class=\"interrupt-item ad\" aria-label=\"Advertisement\">\n<div id=\"pol-05\" class=\"ad-slot js-lazy-load flex vertical \" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>The sudden cash infusion \u2014 which coincides with a pro-Gillum $3.5 million get-out-the-vote effort by a coalition of liberal groups \u2014 comes five days before the Aug. 28 primary and follows new polling suggesting that Gillum, Tallahassee\u2019s mayor and the only African-American in the race, is gaining the most traction in the five-candidate Democratic field.<\/p>\n<p>Gillum currently is\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.politico.com\/states\/florida\/story\/2018\/08\/22\/levine-graham-tied-for-first-in-new-poll-571754\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">polling<\/a>\u00a0in about third place, but he\u2019s generating a significant amount of free-media buzz and talk of a \u201csurge.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe like what we\u2019re seeing on the ground,\u201d said Olivia Bercow, a spokeswoman for Steyer\u2019s NextGen America group, which is turning out voters for Gillum. \u201cWe see real momentum on the ground and in the polls, and with some extra resources we feel we can push Andrew, the most progressive candidate in the race, across the finish line.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Steyer, who already contributed $500,000 to Gillum\u2019s Forward Florida political committee, is chipping in $300,000 more today. Soros, who already contributed $1 million to Forward Florida, is giving another $250,000. And currently anonymous donors affiliated with Steyer and Soros plan to give at least $100,000, Bercow said.<\/p>\n<p>A scarcity of money has been one of the biggest challenges for Gillum, and he has been outgunned on television. Nevertheless, Gillum polled at about 18 percent in the most recent survey by SEA Strategic Polling and Design. Former Miami Beach Mayor Philip Levine and former Rep. Gwen Graham were virtually tied at 26 percent and 25 percent, respectively, according to that poll.<\/p>\n<p>Where Gillum is the only African-American in the race, Graham is the only woman.<\/p>\n<p>So far, 61 percent of the 580,000 Democrats who have already voted early in person or by absentee ballot are women, and 35 percent are white females over 50 \u2014 the profile of likely Graham voters. About 21 percent of those who have voted are black, which could benefit Gillum. More than 28 percent of registered Democrats in Florida are African-American, and many expect a large turnout Sunday for the last day of in-person early voting, in what has become known as \u201csouls to the polls\u201d voting after church.<\/p>\n<p>Gillum\u2019s candidacy has been a proving ground for progressive activists, who repeatedly watched their candidates get clobbered in 2016 Democratic primaries, from Bernie Sanders in the presidential race to Alan Grayson for U.S. Senate to Tim Canova in his bid to unseat Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz.<\/p>\n<p>In the governor\u2019s race, Steyer would not speak ill of any of the other Democratic candidates. He said he just liked Gillum best because of his biography and his policies.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe endorsed the most progressive candidate,\u201d Steyer said. \u201cWe found a candidate who represents a very progressive outlook who has stood up and done the right thing as a public servant and who in our mind would represent a real step forward for Florida.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>___<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.politico.com\/states\/florida\/story\/2018\/08\/23\/steyer-soros-spearhead-650k-cash-infusion-for-gillum-in-florida-governors-race-573227\">http:\/\/www.politico.com\/states\/florida\/story\/2018\/08\/23\/steyer-soros-spearhead-650k-cash-infusion-for-gillum-in-florida-governors-race-573227<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Steyer, Soros spearhead $650K cash infusion for Gillum in Florida governor&#8217;s race<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-105837","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105837","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=105837"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105837\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=105837"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=105837"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=105837"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}