Tallahassee Mayor, Miami native and Florida gubernatorial candidate Andrew Gillum was lagging in third or fourth place in recent polls, but things are looking up since he secured a Bernie Sanders endorsement last week and got a mural of himself spraypainted on a wall in Wynwood.
Gillum says he’s confident that grassroots support can turn into an electoral surprise at the polls, Miami New Times reported.
Miami artist Disem painted the mural in Miami’s design district at the corner of Northeast 24th Street and North Miami Avenue in the candidate’s honor.
“I’m blown away — you made me look handsome!” Gillum told the artist.
Gillum said he got a little choked up when he saw the mural, according to Local 10 ABC News.
“Just for me it serves as a reminder, a campaign like this is bigger than any one individual,” Gillum said.
Gillum met the artist Tuesday and saw the mural, which sits a few blocks away from the offices of the two Democratic front-runners in the race — former Miami Beach Mayor Phil Levine and former Rep. Gwen Graham.
At a press conference on Tuesday, Gillum said he was inspired by how wrong polls can be.
“The only poll that matters is the one on election day,” Gillum siad. “I was campaigning with (Virginia) Lieutenant Governor (Justin) Fairfax, and he gave me particular inspiration because going into his election in Virginia, he was nine points down ahead of election day. At the end of election day after all the votes were counted, he ended 10 points ahead of his opponent. A 19-point closing of the gap between when that last poll was taken and election day.”
