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 general election is Nov. 3.

Graham said in a candidate questionnaire submitted to the Beaches Beacon that she was "passionate about improving the cost of living, re-imagining our education system, bringing common sense solutions to our housing accessibility challenges, investing in healthcare, protecting the rights of our seniors, restoring dignity to our veterans, protecting our environmental footprint and ensuring our communities remain safe …" The lieutenant governor race will appear on ballots for Beaches-area voters.

Candidate information

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

Experience and public service

Graham represented Florida's 2nd Congressional District from January 2015 to 2017, according to Wikipedia. She defeated Republican incumbent U.S. Rep. Steve Southerland in 2014, 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 focused on public education, veterans issues and the environment, and co-sponsored legislation with Sen. Bill Nelson opposing oil drilling in the Gulf of Mexico.

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, according to Wikipedia.

She 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 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.

David Jolly named Graham as his running mate on June 10, and the pair filed qualifying paperwork in Tallahassee the same day, according to WUSF.

On the issues

Housing and insurance: Graham said in her questionnaire that "Florida's affordability crisis starts with housing." She said the Jolly-Graham administration would work to lower homeowner's insurance costs by creating a state catastrophic fund to remove hurricane coverage from the private market. She said they would fully fund the Sadowski Housing Trust Fund to expand workforce and affordable housing.

Public education and teacher pay: Graham said on her campaign website that "Florida pays its teachers the least in the country." She said the administration would pursue a 10-year public education plan that includes raising teacher pay and requiring all publicly funded choice schools to meet the same academic and service standards.

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

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 rather than having many races effectively decided during party primaries, according to NBC Miami.

Other candidates for lieutenant governor listed on the 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), according to BallotReady election data.