Gwen Graham, a former congresswoman and daughter of the late Gov. Bob Graham, is running for lieutenant governor on David Jolly's ticket in the Nov. 3 election.

Graham and Jolly, both Democrats, filed qualifying paperwork in Tallahassee on June 10, according to WUSF. Hillsborough County voters, including those in Apollo Beach and Ruskin, will see the lieutenant governor race on their ballots. Graham said in a candidate questionnaire submitted to this outlet that she and Jolly align on housing, healthcare, education and opposition to data centers.

Candidate information

  • Full name: Gwen Graham
  • Date of birth: Jan. 31, 1963
  • Residence: Tallahassee, according to ClickOrlando/WKMG; Graham's questionnaire also describes her as a resident of Miami Lakes, where she was born
  • Party: Democratic
  • Education: Bachelor's degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; law degree from American University Washington College of Law
  • Family: Married to Steve Hurm; mother of three

Graham is the daughter of the late Bob Graham, who served as Florida's governor and as a U.S. senator. He died in 2024, according to WUSF.

Experience and public service

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

In Congress, Graham served on the Armed Services and Agriculture committees, according to her questionnaire. She said she co-sponsored legislation with Sen. Bill Nelson and opposed oil drilling in the Gulf of Mexico. Graham said she joined U.S. Rep. John Lewis in his sit-in against gun violence and at the 50th anniversary of Bloody Sunday in Selma, Alabama.

She ran for Florida governor in 2018, finishing 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 served as assistant secretary for legislation and congressional affairs at the U.S. Department of Education from October 2021 to January 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.

Graham continues a tradition started by her father called "Workdays," 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

Housing and insurance: Graham said in her questionnaire that the Jolly-Graham administration would create a state catastrophic fund to remove hurricane coverage from the private market, aiming to lower homeowners insurance premiums. She said they would fully fund the Sadowski Housing Trust Fund to expand workforce and affordable housing.

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

Public education and teacher pay: "Florida pays its teachers the least in the country. That breaks my heart," Graham said on her campaign website. In her questionnaire, she called for a "10 year renaissance in public education" that would raise teacher pay and require all publicly funded choice schools to meet the same academic and service standards.

Congressional redistricting: Graham said she would be open to exploring an independent redistricting commission, arguing that voters should have more meaningful choices in general elections, according to NBC Miami.

Other candidates

The lieutenant governor race includes Bryan Avila (Republican), Benjiman Rojas, Joe Van Vactor, Juan Santana, Rachel Rodriguez and Ruben A. Coto (all No Party Preference), and Nicole Skelly (Libertarian), according to BallotReady.