Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum, the Democratic nominee for governor, Thursday picked Orlando businessman Chris King as his running mate for the November election.

Gillum announced the pick officially just after 10 a.m. on Facebook Live. Gillum in a white shirt, King in blue, the two candidates accompanied by their spouses spoke of how they became friends during the primary campaign.

"This is a difficult journey and it is hard," said Gillum flanked by R. Jai Gillum on his left and Kristen and Chris King on his right when he introduced King as his good friend.

"What we wanted to do, not only in this race but when we win the race to be governor, is have a partner to lead the state," said Gillum about why he selected King.

With the tickets set, Gillum and King look to a November matchup with GOP Republican opponent Ron DeSantis and his pick for lieutenant governor Miami Rep. Jeanette Nuñez She is the state's first female Cuban-American lieutenant governor candidate

The Orlando millionaire emerged as a surprise pick given his fifth-place finish after a year-and-a-half-long campaign. King said in the long campaign he came to know Gillum as a competitor and to admire his vision for Florida.

"(Gillum is) someone to speak to issues that the current leadership doesn't care about," said King, who had campaigned as a transformational candidate.

"Whether it is affordable housing, whether it is access to quality health care, whether it is the scourge of gun violence," said King. "Mayor Gillum and I believe we can do much better."

King provided his assessment of Gillum during a debate when asked about an FBI public corruption investigation in the capital city.

"I have gotten to know Andrew Gillum over the last year pretty well," said King. "And I can tell you, Andrew is a good and noble public servant"

Kristen King joked the two 39-year-old candidates proved they were intelligent men when they decided to marry older women. King added that it was R. Jai who convinced the Kings to continue the campaign.

King, an entrepreneur from Winter Park, studied religion at Harvard and law at the University of Florida. When he filed to run for governor in May, he called himself a Christian progressive.

"What we have seen across the country at Homestead and other places is an example of how the Religious Right and the conservative Christian community in this country has twisted the issues that are of most important to people and to caring about people," King said in response to a question about migrant children being separated from their parents and housed in Florida.

"The number one job of the governor of Florida, or a state like this, is to stand up for communities that don’t have a voice," said King.

Gillum won the Democratic nomination building up large margins in big cities and university and college towns. A surge in the polls in the campaign's final two weeks propelled Gillum from fourth place to cut Gwen Graham's double-digit lead and secure a three-point election day win. The suburbs went with Graham while Gillum carried the big cities and university towns.

Sources tell The Democrat that Graham wasn’t offered the job and hasn’t been called by Gillum or anyone in his inner circle since conceding the election. Gillum's campaign said the two spoke one other time by phone after the concession. Graham's team said that wasn't true.

Related:No Tallahassee governor ticket: Here's how Andrew Gillum bypassed Gwen Graham

King campaigned for governor for 18 months, spent $6 million and picked up 37,611 votes, 2.5 percent. Most of the money was his own. An affordable housing entrepreneur, King reports a net worth of $17 million.

His experience in business, said Gillum, is one reason he is the Lt. Gov. pick.

“We’re going to build an economy that works for everyone, by training workers for good-paying jobs, expanding access to health care and ensuring every Floridian has a fair chance to succeed," said Gillum. "Chris is going to be instrumental in our work to rebuild Florida.”