GOP candidate Ron DeSantis backs out of meeting with USA TODAY NETWORK - Florida The hour-long discussion would have been broadcast on Facebook and included questions from viewers across the state.

James Call | Tallahassee Democrat

Ron DeSantis will not sit down today with the editorial boards of the Tallahassee Democrat and USA TODAY NETWORK - Florida.

A spokesman for the campaign informed the Democrat this morning DeSantis would not be attending the hour-long meeting in Tallahassee.

The campaign said a statement would be forthcoming, but by late afternoon nothing was sent.

DeSantis had agreed last week to the hour-long discussion with editors and readers of the six newspapers that make up the USA TODAY NETWORK - Florida.

Gillum will meet with the editors next week, Oct. 31. The discussion will be broadcast on Facebook Live.

Sunday night, DeSantis and Gillum debated in Tampa at a CNN-sponsored event. Minutes before the broadcast the DeSantis campaign lashed out at the cable network as a “fake news” organization.

Back story: Ron DeSantis and Andrew Gillum clash during Florida governor debate on CNN

CNN had reported a poll showing Gillum up by 12 points. The survey included an under-representation of GOP voters.

“This CNN survey is not worth the paper it is written on because the sample and weights do not reflect a Florida election,” said Stephen Lawson, spokesman for the DeSantis campaign.

Monday's cancellation came two days after President Donald J. Trump in a tweet of support for DeSantis referred to Tallahassee as “one of the worst” cities in the USA. In a subsequent tweet, Trump seemed to clarify that Tallahassee was one of the “worst run” cities.

Back story: President Trump tweets that Tallahassee mayor Andrew Gillum runs 'one of the worst' cities

A RealClear Politics average of polls since mid-September puts Gillum up by 3.7 points. RCP and the Cook Political Report rate the race a tossup.

Early voting began today in 32 counties. All 67 counties must offer early voting by Saturday.