The 2018 Mid-Term Election is less than 10-weeks away. Recent primary election results in Florida show that about 110,000 more Republicans than Democrats turned out statewide to vote in a state where there are more registered Democrats than Republicans. This voter turnout is a big surprise that should shake up the Democrats.

Another big surprise was the strength of U.S. Rep. Ron DeSantis’ win over Republican challenger Adam Putnam, Florida Agriculture Commissioner, in the governor’s race. Only weeks before — DeSantis was way behind in Florida voter polls. Putnam thought for sure he would secure the Republican nomination for governor in Tuesday’s primary, but he lost by 20 percentage points. What the heck happened to Putnam? The Trump Train ran him down.

With DeSantis behind in the polls, President Donald Trump held a Trump Rally in Florida in support of DeSantis — who has been a long-time Trump supporter in Washington, DC where he has been relentless in his pursuit of ‘Deep State’ actors such as disgraced former FBI Director James Comey, former Deputy FBI Director Andrew McCabe and former FBI counter intelligence Special Agent Peter Strzok – who was recently fired.

DeSantis will face off against Democratic Socialist Andrew Gillum — mayor of Tallahassee — Florida’s capitol city. Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders campaigned with Gillum in Florida. They both support abolishing the U.S. Immigration Customs Enforcement Agency (ICE) and free Medicare-for-all including illegal aliens.

This Gillum/DeSantis race for Florida governor will surely become one of the most watched in the nation this election season. It promises to be downright dirty and mainstream media will have a field day demonizing DeSantis while glorifying Gillum.

The next day after DeSantis’ win, he made a controversial statement that mainstream media and the Democrats have seized upon to make DeSantis appear as a racist — like they do everything else. Here is what DeSantis actually said and it’s not in the least bit racist.

“Florida elections are always competitive. And this is a guy who, although he’s much too liberal for Florida, I think he’s got a huge problem with how he’s governed Tallahassee. You know, he is an articulate spokesman for those far-left views. He’s a charismatic candidate. And you know I watched those Democrat debates, none of that was my cup of tea, but I mean he performed better than the other people there, so we’ve got to work hard to make sure we continue Florida going in a good direction. Let’s build off the success we’ve had under Governor Scott. The last thing we need to do is to monkey this up by trying to embrace a socialist agenda with huge tax increases, and bankrupting the state. That is not gonna work, that’s not gonna be good for Florida. So, I’m going to fight for what I believe in because I think I’m the guy who can really lead Florida in a good direction.”

No sooner did DeSantis utter the word “monkey” the Democrats attacked DeSantis for “blowing racist dog whistles.” Gillum is a 39-year-old African-American. So the attack on DeSantis, also 39, is in full swing because the Democrats cannot argue with Florida’s strong economy that DeSantis wants to sustain. DeSantis should have said “The last thing we need to do is mess this up by trying to embrace a socialist agenda with huge tax increases, and bankrupting the state.”

What does it matter? What matters is Democrats and mainstream media think African American people are stupid. They are not. Just like everyone else they are smart enough to vote for the candidate who will support policies that benefit Americans and will not be manipulated by contrived outrage. This unfortunate choice of words by DeSantis gives the left an excuse to talk about something other than economic issues.

DeSantis hopes to replace outgoing Gov. Rick Scott, who is trying to unseat three-term U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson (D-FL). Scott is ahead in the polls by 5-points over Nelson. In recent weeks during TV news appearances and interviews Scott appears engaged and enthusiastic while Nelson seems old and tired out.

Prediction: DeSantis wins Florida governorship; Scott heading to Washington.

About the Author Britt Nelson relocated to Costa Rica in 2011 from Florida, where he served as news editor for the Palatka Daily News, a newspaper owned by the New York Times Regional Newspaper Group (NYT-RNG) for 20 years.

Nelson served the NYT-RNG for 18 years in Tennessee, Kentucky, Virginia, North Carolina and Florida as a correspondent, reporter, staff writer, senior staff writer training new reporters, copy editor, page designer, editorial writer, editorial page editor and editorial board member.