The Florida Democratic Party has officially announced its ticket for the 2026 gubernatorial election, naming former Republican U.S. Representative David Jolly as its candidate for governor and former U.S. Representative Gwen Graham as his running mate for lieutenant governor.
The announcement drew an immediate and sharp rebuke from the Republican Party of Florida, which characterized the pairing as a step backward for the state’s opposition party. In a press release, state Republicans criticized the alignment, framing Jolly as a political opportunist and pointing to Graham’s recent work within the federal government as out of touch with Florida voters.
Jolly served in Congress as a Republican representing Florida’s 13th congressional district from 2014 to 2017. He later left the Republican Party, working as a political commentator and eventually registering as a Democrat to enter the 2026 gubernatorial race.
Graham, the daughter of former Florida Governor and U.S. Senator Bob Graham, represented Florida’s 2nd congressional district from 2015 to 2017. Following her time in elective office, she served in Washington, D.C., as an assistant secretary in the Department of Education under President Joe Biden’s administration.
Florida Republicans highlighted her tenure in the Biden administration, arguing that she supported federal education policies that sidelined parental involvement and allowed biological males to compete in women’s sports.
Florida GOP Chairman Evan Power issued a formal statement heavily criticizing the newly formed Democratic ticket.
“The Chameleon and the Nepo Baby are the perfect representatives of today’s Florida Democratic Party,” Power said. “David Jolly has spent years changing his beliefs whenever it benefits his political career, while Gwen Graham abandoned the North Florida values she once claimed to represent and went to work advancing Joe Biden’s radical education agenda in Washington. Floridians don’t want higher taxes, government overreach, or the failed policies that have devastated blue states. They want the freedom, prosperity, and common-sense leadership that Republicans have delivered.”
State Republicans assert that the pairing shows a lack of new leadership and fresh ideas within the state’s minority party, arguing that voters will reject the ticket at the ballot box. Neither the Jolly campaign nor the Florida Democratic Party has issued an immediate counter-response to the GOP’s opening salvo.
READ: Florida And Georgia Among States Where Predators, Fraudsters Exposed In Fed Crackdown
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