Donald Trump is presenting a major dilemma for Adam Putnam as he gears up to run for governor in 2018.
Unlike Rick Scott and Pam Bondi, Putnam is showing no signs of getting on the Trump bandwagon. In an interview with the Tampa Bay Times/Miami Herald, Putnam said he would not endorse Trump unless he ends up as the Republican presidential nominee.
"As the father of three girls, I'm not real thrilled with his language and his history of ungentlemanly things that he has said about women," Putnam told the Tampa Bay Times/Miami Herald . "But he has clearly tapped into a visceral discontent with the brokenness of Washington."
Putnam has plenty of reasons to keep his distance from Trump but there is a major risk here. Trump routed his primary rivals in Florida last month, carrying every one of the Sunshine State’s 67 counties save for Marco Rubio’s Miami Dade home base. Whatever independents and Democrats think of Trump, he has a major following with Florida Republicans.
During his time in his current post, Putnam has been vocal in his opposition to what he considered anti-immigration legislation. Back in 2011, Putnam pointed to proposals in Georgia and Alabama which he considered anti-immigrant and said nothing like that would happen in Florida. Putnam also has been a longtime critic of Arizona’s immigration law. He took aim at the Arizona law in 2011 and continued his criticism into 2012. Earlier this year, Putnam slammed a proposal to bring an Arizona style immigration law to Florida. Of course, the agriculture community, which Putnam has deep ties to, have been critical of efforts to crack down on immigration.
All of this could spell trouble for Putnam, especially if Trump supporters don’t forgive him for backing their candidate the way Scott and Bondi did. With Bondi and Marco Rubio already saying they’re not running and Jeff Atwater having pondered running for the Senate and trying to lead Florida Atlantic University, Putnam is the de facto GOP favorite. But he’s nowhere near close to being a lock and Trump and his backers could cause Putnam a major headache. Putnam has to be very careful on how he handles Trump in the months to come.
Reach Kevin Derby at kderby@sunshinestatenews.com or follow him on Twitter: @KevinDerbySSN
