he got a key endorsement from president trump against adam putnam because he was able to get on fox. congress is really unpopular even though the house has been controlled by republicans in 2010 and the senate has been controlled by republicans and 2014 14, but republicans do not like congress to write the fact they've had control for dr. years.- four you don't want to be involved in washington to the -- and the swamp, even though republicans have been in control. host: are using democrats already going after him for this? guest: summer pointing out that he already missed 54% of his votes since july on the house pointing out are that the artemis 54% of his vote since july and the house floor. house -- as the already missed 54% of his votes since july and house floor. even in a lame-duck period, when he could come back to congress whether he wins or loses, the people of that district will not have any representation, which is another side of this. it's a political ploy, let's call it what it is. stephen shepard will be with us until the top of the hour, talking about election 2018, al

. >> lou: adam putnam had i think a 25-point lead at one point. >> yeah. >> lou: the president stepped in and turned it all upside down for the establishment g.o.p. and the koch brothers and wall street and the business round table and the chamber of commerce. there is no doubt. which is stronger? establishment g.o.p., represented by those entities or donald trump? right now the answer is convincingly donald trump. >> absolutely. putnam had been elected statewide and desantis had not. when they had the debate, i believe it was bret baier and martha maccallum on it. desantis did an excellent job. he got exposure across the state and then he had the president come in and it really flipped the race. while all that was happening there was a multi-candidate race going on in the democratic party. remember andrew gillum i think won with 34% of the vote. >> lou: right. >> and so -- >> lou: he was up against five other candidates. all basically establishment democrats. >> one of whom named graham. the daughter of a senator and former governor bob graham. you had an establish. thing going again.

think fund-raising totals are interesting -- >> dagen: not to interrupt you, but i was shocked that adam putnamn florida, he outraised dissent is 2-1. >> and gwen graham outrace andrew guillen by ten as well. i would also note that in one of our latest fox news polls, republican men, democratic men and democratic women, were all pretty enthusiastic about voting the cycle. the group that had dropped significantly in enthusiasm was female republicans. by double digits. that is interesting to watch. i would also point out the governor's race that they are going to be really important because they are going to help determine redistricting. we have governors races across the midwest. across new england, there are shaping up to be some fascinating races. and, of course, in florida. >> murray is right about that, that's an area where they are largely playing defense. that's a tough spot for republicans. >> dagen: rachel, g.o.p. primary voters, the turnout was better than the democrats down in florida, even in arizona. 1.6 million republicans out in florida in the races last week versus one and a half

he got a key endorsement from president trump against adam putnam because he was able to get on fox.ongress is really unpopular even though the house has been controlled by republicans in 2010 and the senate has been controlled by republicans and 2014 14, but republicans do not like congress to write the fact they've had control for dr. years.- four you don't want to be involved in washington to the -- and the swamp, even though republicans have been in control. host: are using democrats already going after him for this? guest: summer pointing out that he already missed 54% of his votes since july on the house pointing out are that the artemis 54% of his vote since july and the house floor. house -- as the already missed 54% of his votes since july and house floor. even in a lame-duck period, when he could come back to congress whether he wins or loses, the people of that district will not have any representation, which is another side of this. it's a political ploy, let's call it what it is. stephen shepard will be with us until the top of the hour, talking about election 2018, all

adam putnam in a second because the guy actually would know what he's doing.uy, again, this the guy doesn't understand the issues. he's having to take time out to figure out exactly what he believes. and we're in hurricane season. it's a toxic mix and it reminds me of what my friend, david stafford said when we were driving over to katrina and we were going over every day mississippi, louisiana. and he's a very consrervative guy, but he said on the show, you know why we're at this position where we have a mayor, a governor and a president who don't know what they're doing? because we all go in and vote in primary season and if we're a democrat, we check the box. examine if we're republicans, we check the box. but the one box that is left out in this idealogical era is leadership. and they don't look at leadership, who can actually get us through a hurricane katrina. so we get what we deserve. >>> still ahead on "morning joe" -- >> by the time i left office, household income was near its all-time high and the uninsured rate had hit at an all-time low and wages

. >> you also have desantis, who was not the choice of the establishment, it was adam putnam who hasn waiting in the wings for a long time, desantis came out of the gate with the controversy, the whole monkey it up controversy and donald trump is unpopular, nationwide disapproval rating of 60%. i don't know what it is in florida. why would republicans be confident in desantis to beat a guy that we saw has clear political talent like andrew gillum, to stay with you, chris. >> well, because florida is a difficult and complex state. in addition to which, on the point of desantis not being the establishment nominee, i think that's one area he should focus on. the question is going to be will those folks stay home? will they vote with him? will they work actively against him? . i think that is an area of weakness and he needs to get in front of that. >> let me go to michael steele. you were the king of the 2010 midterms, a lot of democrats still mad at you over that. democrats are looking at a lot of enthusiasm and it's interesting, michael, the south, including your home state of marylan