ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Gubernatorial candidate Andrew Gillum is holding a town hall in St. Petersburg Friday. 

  • Andrew Gillum at SPC Friday for town hall. RSVP here
  • Gillum appearance scheduled for Noon
  • Gillum and DeSantis to have debate Sunday on CNN at 8 p.m.

Both Gillum, a Democrat, and GOP gubernatorial candidate Ron DeSantis are back on the campaign trail today after a break during Hurricane Michael.

Gillum will take about Hurricane Michael recovery today in the town hall event at St. Pete College. 

The event begins at noon at SPC's Gibbs Campus Music Center at 6605 5th Ave North. Doors open at 11 a.m. for the free event but an RSVP is required

Gillum also will appear at a free rally Friday at 5 p.m. at Tampa's Water Works Park, 1710 N. Highland Avenue. 

"We're fully confident we're going to pull out a win," Gillum said Thursday. "And it won't be because the polls told us so. It's because we're going everywhere. We're going to red counties and blue counties and purple counties."

Meanwhile, DeSantis continues to hit on his opponent's past.

"My opponent is a career politician," DeSantis said. "He literally got elected to the Tallahassee City Commission right out of college. Has never worked, ever, in anything outside of politics outside of his career, and it shows."

Gillum and DeSantis have 17 days before Florida voters decide who will be the next governor. 

Durng today's event, Gillum also is expected to highlight his leadership during the storm as Tallahassee's mayor, which political analysts say could work to his advantage. 

"You're talking about people that are holding elected offices," said Democratic Political Analyst Edwin Narain. "So there are expectations from their constituents that they are on the ground to get power restored. That they are working to help people recover from a storm like this."

Next week, Gillum will get support from Hillary Clinton, who is expected to join him on the campaign trail in South Florida. 

And Gillum and DeSantis will have their first debate, scheduled for Sunday night in Tampa. 

That event, to be aired live on CNN, is at 8 p.m. at WEDU studios in Tampa. The one-hour debate will be moderated by CNN Anchor Jake Tapper.