Gwen Graham, a former U.S. representative and daughter of the late Florida Gov. Bob Graham, is running for lieutenant governor on the Democratic ticket with gubernatorial candidate David Jolly. The Nov. 3 general election features several other lieutenant governor candidates, including Bryan Avila, a Republican.

Graham said in a candidate questionnaire that she and Jolly align on housing, healthcare, education and opposition to data centers. Jolly named Graham as his running mate on June 10, and the pair filed qualifying paperwork in Tallahassee that same day, according to WUSF.

Candidate information

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

Experience and public service

Graham defeated Republican incumbent U.S. Rep. Steve Southerland in 2014 to represent Florida's 2nd Congressional District, one of only two Democrats nationally to unseat a Republican incumbent that year, according to Wikipedia. She served in Congress until January 2017.

While in Congress, Graham said she focused on public education, veterans issues and the environment. She served on the Armed Services and Agriculture committees. 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.

Graham 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.

She served as assistant secretary for legislation and congressional affairs at the U.S. Department of Education from October 2021 to January 2025.

Before entering politics, Graham worked as director of employee relations at Leon County Schools and as an associate attorney at Andrews & Kurth in Washington, D.C. She is a graduate of Leon High School in Tallahassee. Graham said she also served as a PTA president and school advisory council chair.

Graham continues 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

Housing and insurance: Graham said the Jolly-Graham administration would work to lower homeowner's 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 and remove barriers to increasing supply.

Healthcare: 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.

Public education and teacher pay: Graham said in her candidate questionnaire that the administration would pursue "a 10 year renaissance in public education" by raising teacher pay and ensuring all publicly funded choice schools meet the same academic and service standards. On her campaign website, Graham said, "Florida pays its teachers the least in the country. That breaks my heart."

Congressional 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 races decided during party primaries.

Other candidates

Other candidates for Florida lieutenant governor on the Nov. 3 ballot include 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).