Gwen Graham, a former congresswoman and daughter of the late Gov. Bob Graham, is running for lieutenant governor on David Jolly's Democratic ticket.

The Nov. 3 general election will include the statewide race on Clay County ballots. Jolly named Graham as his running mate on June 10, and the pair filed qualifying paperwork in Tallahassee the same day, according to WUSF.

Graham said on her campaign website that she is focused on housing, health care, education and the environment. "Florida pays its teachers the least in the country. That breaks my heart," Graham said on the site. "And it's the wrong direction for Florida's future."

Candidate information

  • Office sought: Florida lieutenant governor
  • Party: Democratic
  • Running mate: David Jolly (gubernatorial candidate)
  • Residence: Tallahassee
  • Born: Jan. 31, 1963, in Miami Lakes
  • Family: Husband Steve; three children. Daughter of the late Bob Graham, former Florida governor and U.S. senator, who died in 2024.
  • Education: Bachelor's degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (1984); juris doctorate from American University Washington College of Law (1988)
  • High school: Leon High School, Tallahassee (class of 1980)

Other candidates on the ballot for lieutenant governor, according to BallotReady: Bryan Avila (Republican), Benjiman Rojas (No Party Preference), Joe Van Vactor (No Party Preference), Juan Santana (No Party Preference), Nicole Skelly (Libertarian), Rachel Rodriguez (No Party Preference) and Ruben A. Coto (No Party Preference).

Experience and public service

Graham won election to Florida's 2nd Congressional District in 2014, defeating Republican incumbent U.S. Rep. Steve Southerland, according to Wikipedia. She was one of only two Democrats nationally to unseat an incumbent Republican that year, according to Wikipedia.

In Congress, Graham served on the Armed Services and Agriculture committees, according to her candidate questionnaire. She said she worked on public education, veterans issues and the environment, and joined U.S. Rep. John Lewis in his sit-in against gun violence.

Graham served as assistant secretary for legislation and congressional affairs at the U.S. Department of Education from 2021 to 2025, according to Wikipedia. Before entering politics, she worked as director of employee relations at Leon County Schools and as an associate attorney at Andrews & Kurth in Washington, D.C.

She ran for governor in 2018. She finished second in a seven-person Democratic primary with 31.3% of the vote, losing to Andrew Gillum by 47,289 votes, according to Wikipedia.

Graham has continued the "Workdays" tradition established by her father, spending full shifts working alongside Floridians at their jobs. She performed more than 50 workdays during her campaigns for Congress and governor, according to Wikipedia.

On the issues

The following positions are drawn from Graham's candidate questionnaire and campaign website. All statements reflect the candidate's own claims.

Housing: Graham said the Jolly-Graham administration would work to lower homeowners insurance costs by creating a state catastrophic fund that removes hurricane coverage from the private market. She said they would fully fund the Sadowski Housing Trust Fund to expand workforce and affordable housing.

Health care: Graham said she would work with legislative leaders to expand Medicaid and access to primary care through community health clinics, nonprofits and federally qualified health centers.

Education: Graham said the administration would embark on a 10-year effort to raise teacher pay and ensure all publicly funded choice schools meet the same academic and service standards.

Redistricting: Graham said she would be open to exploring an independent redistricting commission to draw political boundaries, according to NBC Miami. She said voters should have more meaningful choices in general elections rather than having many races effectively decided during party primaries.