TALLAHASSEE — Former U.S. Rep. Gwen Graham, who fell 3.1 percentage points short of being the Democratic gubernatorial nominee in 2018, could be on the ballot again this year, but in a supporting role.
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David Jolly, another former U.S. House member, announced Graham, the daughter of former Gov. Bob Graham, as his running mate, putting a northern Democrat on the ticket days after his anticipated biggest primary challenger, Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings, dropped out of the race.
Jolly, 53, noted he has been friends with Gwen Graham, 63, for more than a decade. They served together on opposite sides of the aisle in Congress, working on issues from gun reform after the Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando in 2016 to education and the environment. He said he wanted a running mate with the skills to oversee the state.
“We are at a crossroads, and there is an opportunity to do something very differently. This is a moment where we need new leadership in the state of Florida,” Jolly said during an event outside the Old Capitol. “We need capable, responsible leaders willing to put the people of Florida first.”
Graham said the November election will be a choice between candidates “who will listen to the voices of all Floridians, or do you want a governor who just plays to the political extremes?”
“The connection David and I have built is on the simple belief that public service and public servants should focus and deliver on improving people’s lives,” Graham said.
The selection wasn’t a surprise. The two had appeared together at several events in the past year and on Monday the USA Today Network reported Rev. R.B. Holmes Jr., pastor of Bethel Missionary Baptist Church in Tallahassee, revealed Graham as Jolly’s running mate in his Sunday sermon.
Jolly said he isn’t waiting to set up his team.
On Tuesday, he named lobbyist Sean Pittman as his transition chairman.
Jolly and Graham served in Congress together from 2015 to 2017. Jolly at the time was a Republican representing Florida’s 13th congressional district, which covered part of the Tampa area.
Largely in reaction to the rise of Donald Trump and the GOP’s embrace of him as president, Jolly left the Republican Party and later became a Democrat.
The Republican Party of Florida quickly responded to the report by characterizing Jolly a “political chameleon” and Graham a “liberal (nepotism) baby.”
“Together, Jolly and Graham represent everything Florida voters have spent the last decade rejecting: career politicians, Washington insiders, and a far-left agenda that is out of step with the values of Florida families,” the party said in a statement on Monday.
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Gates McGavick, the campaign communications director for U.S. Rep. Bryon Donalds the GOP frontrunner to replace the term-limited Gov. Ron DeSantis, issued a statement that “this might have been an interesting ticket 10 years ago.”
Jolly on Wednesday said he wasn’t convinced Donalds will become the Republican party nominee.
Besides Donalds, the Republican primary includes former House Speaker Paul Renner and conservative activist James Fishback, who have already qualified. Lt. Gov. Jay Collins, who has announced his bid for the office, has until noon on Friday to qualify.
Democrats Evelyn Castillo-Bach of Pembroke Pines and Thomas Eloy Fernandez of Homestead have already qualified for the primary, paying the $8,480 filing fee. Still, the Democratic field cleared a little on Friday when Demings suspended his campaign after being diagnosed with prostate cancer.
Florida also hasn’t elected a Democrat as governor since Lawton Chiles was reelected in 1994. The last Democrat to win a statewide contest was Nikki Fried as agriculture commissioner in 2018. Fried is now the Florida Democratic Party chairwoman.
Jolly said he considered five or six “strong” candidates to be his running mate.
Graham served in President Joe Biden’s administration as an assistant secretary of the U.S. Department of Education for legislation and congressional affairs.
Her father, Bob Graham, who died in 2024, served as Florida’s governor from 1979 to 1987 before moving to the U.S. Senate, where he served until 2005.
An attorney, Gwen Graham worked on her father’s 2004 presidential campaign and later the campaigns of Howard Dean and John Kerry.
She defeated Republican incumbent U.S. Rep. Steve Southerland in 2014, only to leave Congress to pursue the Democratic gubernatorial nomination in 2018. She finished second in a seven-person primary with 31.3 percent of the vote, 47,289 votes behind former Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum.
Gillum lost the general election to DeSantis, in his first run for governor, by 32,463 votes out of more than 8 million cast.
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