The flare-up began Tuesday when an African-American woman who supports Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum called former U.S. Rep. Gwen Graham a “skank” on Twitter. | AP Photo ‘Skank’ and racism charges: Florida’s Democratic gubernatorial primary gets ugly

MIAMI — Florida’s Democratic race for governor has become a debate about race and gender. And it’s getting ugly.

The flare-up began Tuesday when an African-American woman who supports Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum called former U.S. Rep. Gwen Graham a “skank” on Twitter. Graham surrogates then called on Gillum to denounce the comments from his supporter, Leslie Wimes, who amplified the slur Thursday morning in a column she writes for a conservative publication, the Sunshine State News, that bore the headline “Skank, Oh, My!”


By noon, the group EMILY’s List, which backs women abortion-rights Democrats, called on Gillum “to make clear to his supporters that negative, gendered attacks have no place in political discourse.” In its press release, EMILY’S List also criticized Gillum over the primary’s first new negative ad campaign, launched by a pro-black super PAC called The Collective, that casts Graham as a phony progressive.

And that’s when race entered the picture.

“It’s all about race,” Wimes said, noting the difference in EMILY’s List's involvement in this race compared to its neutrality in the 2014 gubernatorial Democratic primary when longtime abortion-rights liberal, former state Sen. Nan Rich, ran against former Gov. Charlie Crist, who had been a self-styled “pro-life” Republican before leaving the GOP. Wimes pointed out that, in 2014, Graham ran for Congress as a “very conservative Democrat” and was not the “progressive” that EMILY’s List calls her.

“So when a true progressive runs against a fake Democrat, EMILY’S List does nothing. But when someone who described herself as a ‘very conservative Democrat’ runs against a black man who’s a true progressive, they jumped in waist deep for her,” Wimes said.

EMILY’s List did not respond. Gillum's campaign has said Wimes should have focused on Graham's record.

The controversy involving the two campaigns, their surrogates and two outside political groups added a dose of drama to what until now had been a sleepy Democratic race for governor with at least 40 percent of the electorate undecided.

But the added attention could be unwelcome. While Graham has happily played up her gender — quipping at the first debate last month that it’s “Gwen and the men” — her supporters have fretted about the potential racial animus that could arise by going after Gillum in a Democratic primary, where about a fourth of the registered voters are African-American.

The relations between the two campaigns — both involving Tallahassee politicians — has been sour for months.

Graham’s backers say the latest broadsides against her show that Gillum isn’t the inspirational candidate he pretends to be, but instead is a negative bomb-thrower who’s mired in single digits in the polls. For its part, Gillum’s campaign has blamed Graham’s camp for spreading word that he was under investigation in a City Hall corruption probe that currently is swirling around a city commissioner. And his supporters say it exposes how Graham, known as a friendly serial hugger, isn’t as nice as she lets on.

Against this backdrop, The Collective PAC began its ad campaign Thursday against Graham, saying in a press statement to POLITICO that “several studies show deep disparities in funding, recruitment and general support for Black candidates. The Collective PAC was established to help level the playing field, and we are unapologetic about it.”

Ironically, the ad attacking Graham might benefit a third candidate — former Miami Beach Mayor Phil Levine, who is running in first place on the strength of a $9 million ad campaign. Graham is in second in most polls.

Graham responded to The Collective PAC’s ad by calling out Gillum.

“I am disgusted that Andrew Gillum would allow a secret-money group to run a false attack against a fellow Democrat,” Graham said in a written statement Thursday morning. In its press release, the campaign included statements from African-American state lawmakers backing Graham and condemning Gillum.

Graham’s campaign also questions how Gillum, who has said he’s against so-called dark money, has taken $231,000 in contributions from The Collective’s affiliated nonprofit, Collective Future, which does not have to report the sources of its money. The nonprofit will not disclose its donors; the super PAC discloses its donors quarterly like other federal political action committees like it.

In a letter to TV stations, Graham’s campaign also demanded they take down the new ad from The Collective for saying she “trashed Obamacare.” Graham had called for changes to the Affordable Care Act, but had voted to keep it on numerous occasions.

Gillum hasn’t explained his change of heart in accepting dark money, nor has he called out The Collective for its ad, which echoes many of his criticisms about her voting for the Keystone XL pipeline and a banking bill opposed by many progressives. His supporters gleefully noted that Graham's campaign and supporters were giving attention both to him and the ad, providing precious free media attention.

In response to EMILY’s List's demand that he speak out against the attacks on Graham, Gillum’s campaign said in a written statement that “the Mayor and our campaign denounce name-calling, and we agree with EMILY's List on that point. Our supporters should stick to the Congresswoman's record.”