Civil rights leader the Rev. Jesse Jackson is urging Floridians to focus on issues such as senior services, lower tuition for students, better wages and gender equality in a governor’s race that quickly heated up the day after the state’s primary.

Trump-endorsed Republican candidate Ron DeSantis assailed Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum, a Democrat, during a television interview Wednesday that critics denounced as racist. Gillum is seeking to become the state’s first black governor. DeSantis said the last thing “we need to do is monkey this up by trying to embrace a socialist agenda with huge tax increases and bankrupting this state.”

In an interview with The Associated Press on Thursday, Jackson said DeSantis’ comment was “clearly a race-based message.”

He said voters should “take their anguish to the polls” in November.

Sign up for Daily Newsletters Manage Newsletters

Copyright © 2020 The Washington Times, LLC.