drive up turnout. people have already voted, and there is some sign that this could be the biggest -- turn outs 1994 since 1994, if not bigger. beingk with donald trump in the news and having people of all political stripes pay more attention to politics, you will see really, really strong. host: thank you. we continue our conversation with a look at florida with susan mcmanus, political analyst at the university of south florida, joining us from tampa. with how the florida voters breakdown by party.

explain the breakdown and what impact that could have. guest: to put it mildly, we are pretty much a tight state. we have the closest cap between democrats and republicans in state history. 35%registered democrats, registered republicans, 37% no very affiliation -- divided state. host: who could make the difference in some of these key senate and house races, and also the gubernatorial race? guest: we are closely watching the group that has no party affiliation. a sizable portion has the three youngest generations, generation x, the millennials, and z.eration they have the clout to affect a

lot of these races. will be theiron turnout. millions have been spent in this state to register young voters and hire people on the ground to try to get them to the polls. so we shall see. the most competitive state in the country, the purple list of purple states. host: take a look at the registration of young voters. generation ask makes up -- millennials, 24% and the cash-- hashtag generation, 4%. what issues do these young people care about? guest: it varies a lot, but mostly they are looking for new faces in high places, tired of politics as usual, which is why younger twot of the generations turning their back on the political party.

they liked candidates, someone who is inspiring, someone who talks to their issues, which obviously include, in particular for the millennials, jobs, college debt, college loans, health care. but a big issue with this younger demographic has really , inged politics in florida that there is really strong interest in the environment. in florida is that the environment issue has escalated to the point where when it is usually among the top three or four issues that people mention when asked about the top issues facing florida. they are also very supportive of diversity, gender and racial and ethnic diversity. because a proportion of these younger registrants are racially diverse themselves. host: if you plan to vote, who did you that

if you have already voted, who did you vote for and why? , where do these younger voters live and where could they make a difference in guest: they live all over the state, but there's obviously a large concentration .long the i-4 corridor two of the state's largest universities, university of south florida, tampa, and orlando, have very large student have -- andhey there have been some aggressive registration drives. but also in south florida, south florida has a younger population, particularly the minority population. a lot of aggressive registration drives going on there. certainly, they can affect these competitive congressional districts, but also the

governor's race and the senate, if they turn out, as we are thinking they might. we are at least expecting their turn out to be a bit higher. but they need to have a pretty high turnout to tip the direction of the election. most true that they are drawn, interest wise, to our extremely interesting governor's much more so than the u.s. senate race. after all, the two candidates for governor, one is 40 years old and the other is 39. so it is fascinating, you cannot ignore or refuse this younger democratic, particularly in these swing areas and competitive areas. particularly in that race, what are some of the issues playing out, and how do these younger people view those issues? guest: big issues for the young are, as always, the economy, the

environment, health care, and i think more recently, they are very interested in immigration, even though that has just been an issue that has come up fairly recently. but the top three are clearly, economy, health care, and the environment. after-- struggles to rise racial stumble. here's a quote by his challenger , spotted his opening and pounced at a recent debate. i'm not calling mr. desantis a racist, i'm just saying the racists believe he is a racist. do you believe this issue is resonating? guest: i think so, but i think they are still interested in the candidate and the candidate does it or soda. one thing that andrew gillum did was to really target younger and minority voters, and to personally go to them.

1968 was the year i graduated from college, and 50 years later , activism was the key on college campuses, and we've almost come full circle where we see activism and aggressive outreach to these young college students, again, for a while, we didn't. is clearly appealing to the more conservative, economically focused voter, people with military backgrounds in their family. gillam is appealing much more to the younger people, democratic leaning and progressive in their policy stances, really interested in racial diversity. host: in the florida senate race, how is the environmental that, the algae blooms florida has been dealing with, how is that impacting the race between the governor and the

incumbent, bill nelson? -- between rick scott and bill nelson? scott -- guest: rick scott pointed his youer at washington, saying aren't bringing the money home to fix the problems you said you were going to. in turn, will nelson points the finger back at the state and says the governor hasn't been attentive to the environment like you should, because you put some people on water management who are not attentive or particularly in tune with the environmental issues for climate change issues. we are changing to where scientists are weighing in and having a bit more influence. you will find a lot of people saying that the red tide and algae bloom are the responsibility of a single person, but what we've seen is that the red tide, which is dead fish, and the visuals of this

issue are compelling. the green slime for the algae bloom at the dead fish on the coast, they've caused typical republican voters to take a second look. it is affecting the economies of the areas. small businesses that rely on tourism, especially at this time of year, to boost the economy, and florida also has a very large commercial fishing industry. it is exactly why donald trump , for thescott appeared first time in a while, together in fort myers this week, to shore up support among some of the republicans in that area, an area most affected by algae blooms, to come back home and vote republican, because scott did lose some republicans votes because of the environmental issues, so it is a big issue. you cannot look at a television set for more than five seconds

without seeing ads on -- as advertisements about these candidates, and the environment is a big part. host: barbara in miami, how do you plan to vote? caller: i already voted, and the primary reason was to cast my vote for governor rick scott. is that hei did that has promoted the state in all kinds of ways. we have a great economy. he was right out there when the hurricanes occurred in the state. he wasn't campaigning, he was out trying to get things going and help people in the upper part of the state. one thing i thought was interesting, and may be your guest can comment, is that the ads that appear in favorite -- in favor of rick scott show an empty suit, literally a suit jacket. they say, bill nelson, what has he done?

an empty suit who has been in politics for 40 years. i have to say, i think that's true. i can't think of one bill that senator nelson has authored. host: are you a lifelong republican? no, like most college kids, i started out as a democrat, then i switched parties about 10 years ago. host: all right. susan mcmanus. guest: it is true that one of the most powerful early ads against nelson was one that stress how long he's been in office, and it is still running, 45 years. not the year that longevity in office is something to put up the top of your resume as a candidate. nelson has had to play catch-up. to enterrt of weighted the contest, following the more traditional pattern in florida, which has been, don't bother starting the campaign for a laboride race until after

day, because it is hot in august and people are vacationing. so nelson himself is caught a lot of flack from democrats and republicans for waiting a bit late. scott'sue that rick recent ads, which just started strongthis week, a very ad touting how well he responded to hurricane michael, and polls do show that voters do give him hetty good marks for how handled hurricane. for the last two, he's been much more aggressive before hurricanes and not just after, but then again, some people say that is expected and not a real reason to vote for one person over another. but this race has been even tighter than the governor's race from day one. we are seeing that the ads are the assets of each,

and the other is trying to draw out the liabilities. the nelson ads against scott go back to the days of when his firm had some legal issues, and he escaped with a lot of money. traditionalgain, issues at play in the u.s. senate race. int: let's hear from ted washington, new jersey. caller: bill nelson has been there over 40 years, that is clearly a message in its ago go. but that is my personal opinion. the question i have about the the democratce, fellow, he doesn't seem to be much of a uniter. in a time of such divisiveness. the economy is important, i know florida got hit at the end of the bush era by mr. obama.

coming across strong on the economy and uniting people, which is needed? guest: the gillam economic illum economice g platform is two parts. he strongly is in favor of raising the minimum income -- closing the income gap between the wealthy and poor in the and is also arguing that people are still being left behind, even in spite of the booming economy, and often points to the fact that many of these new jobs are sort of minimum wage type jobs. , on the other hand, has heavily campaigned on a strong economy in florida. his angle is that an election of andrew gillum would cause damage

to the economy, because a lot of the things that he is proposing are so expensive that taxes would have to be raised. so, again, republicans relying more on tax arguments as important to the sustenance of the florida economy, and andrew gillum arguing that it could be better. night, wheretion will you be? what parts of the state will you be watching and how will you know if it is a good night for democrats or for republicans? guest: i live in the i-4 abcidor, i will be on the tampa affiliate. i am their analyst on election night, even though i take calls from a lot of different outlets through the state. i'm certainly watching the i-4 corridor and really watching areas and precincts that have a

lot of younger voters, because i think they are critical. traditionally, those of us who keep alorida politics really sharp eye on turnout and voting patterns in some of the suburban areas, particularly areas where it has a modest income, but family oriented makeup. pascoe county in my area, just thoseof tampa, is one of bellwether county is that we carefully watch. and why are we focused on the suburban mother in particular russian mark because historically in florida, we've seen she can make a difference in switching from one party to another, and often, the angle that drives the suburban mom is how policies will affect her children. early voting, is there any indication that the suburban mom is leaning toward one party or the other? guest: right now, it looks like it is

following a traditional sort of party line, but i think it is too soon to tell, in a way. moms i can tell you in the congressional 15 race between carlson and santos, it's getting a lot of attention in tampa. in that race, you can see the democrat is really aiming at the suburban mom. she's got a lot of support from women groups. they are counting on the fact that if there can be a flip, it's going to be because of the support -- suburban mothers. it's evident in the content of her ads. host: let's look at one of those out.

ads. carlson supports the tax raising agenda. carlson supports raising taxes on middle-class families. bigtin carlson supports a government spending steamed it could lead to doubling the national debt. nancy pelosi and kristin carlson would make you pay more. the response to that added is her experience. >> sometimes you have to stand up. i stood up to criminals who hired seniors, women, and children. out-of-state companies that sold contaminated orange juice to schools. i will work with both parties to lower taxes for the middle class.

i approved this message because we need to stand up for florida. the impact of those ads western mark -- ads? guest: they are trying to grab the attention of the suburban mother. had a quarterve of a billion dollars of tv ads in florida. that that ad a way against her is typical of many in these swing districts. well be the trump and pelosi are on the ballot. they are in so many ads. the carlson and is more personal, it's a better at for her than the one that was run by the other groups.

that's the one they are continuing to play right now. florida, good morning to you. have a number of comments. i'm hearing these wonderful things about governor scott and i wanted to mention that under rick scott, public education is a disaster in florida. health care is a disaster. beaches, all over our rick scott. democrats have not done a good job informing voters. democrats need help with their media coverage. they need better strategists. they have not done a good job of informing lord of voters about his record. they need to remind them.

public education, democrats and orublicans underestimate missa valuate what really is of concern to voters. i voted democrat. straight down the line. i also wanted to say that i voted yesterday. to know anything about the amendments. we are a poorly informed electorate. the news media has a lot to do with that. host: let's leave it there. issues,talk about the what are some issues on the talent? -- ballot? guest: we have 12 constitutional amendments. this is one of the longest balance in quite some time.

stations andv blogs have tried to inform people about the amendments. they are hard to understand. related androm tax budget related items to things like prohibiting dog racing or asking people to vote for one that outlaws offshore oil drilling and has rules about ing.ng -- vap they were bundled together because florida has three ways of putting things on the ballot. one is the legislature, by citizen petition. the automatic restoration of voting rights was put on there by a citizen petition. florida has a third way of getting something on the ballot, the constitutional revision commission. they can put whatever they want on there.

the most confusing ones are coming from the revision commission, which bundled two or three things together. if you have to decide whether to vote yes or no on the amendment, you have to wade your way through them. some have four different parts. comment, the excellent it is hard to cover all the multitude of hot races, big issues, and to do it in a way that is thoroughly informative. you can't do it with a typical newscast. newspaper,o it in a a lot of people don't subscribe and readership has fallen off. state, 13 million voters. i think so many voters feel aboutortable and an easy

those 12 amendments at the end of the ballot. there have been millions of dollars spent on those. a big gambling issue, billions of dollars were spent for and against where voters are just scratching their heads and don't really know what they think about it. it's the multitude and magnitude of issues and candidates and races this year. it's hard to follow everything. host: shirley is a resident in florida. caller: good morning to you, professor. long-term service to academia in the state. since the great recession, the impact has been uneven. have a state, i am in tallahassee, the capital city where the governor's race will

bring one of the candidates to reside it. we in florida have shown signs of improvement since the -- 2012. recessione a major and we had a housing bubble that burst. the households in florida are struggling financially. that includes when goes up.iving the service economy is where we are going to see people who will decide it. the basic need that it takes to survive here in florida, for food and health care and transportation. context, those are the people. , these major influencers

are not social people. this is the president of the florida chamber, the president of the united way. different agencies, social service agencies, they speak of -- need that many iranians floridians are in poverty. host: susan mcmanus? guest: affordable housing is a big problem. that's why they are trying to deal with the problem. the service sector dominate nature of our economy is changing. we are becoming a more economically diverse state. you still have people who live in large metropolitan areas where the cost of living is higher. they struggle to meet the basics. this has been the centerpiece of

the gubernatorial campaign. it's one of the arguments that andrew gillam has made a lot. many more affluent communities are worried about affordable housing picture -- housing. made that when he tried to become the nominee. it caught a lot of attention. it hasn't really dominated to the degree democrats wish it had. mary is in louisiana. good morning. question or comment? caller: senator bill nelson at the podium