David Jolly, the Democratic candidate for Florida governor, has brought his campaign to South Florida. Together with his running mate Gwen Graham, he made a stop at Florida International University as part of a three-day tour across the state.
The two candidates argue that voters are ready for change after decades of Republican leadership. Florida has had a Republican governor since 1999, and the pair are presenting themselves as the alternative to that long run in power.
Asked what makes him think he can change that, Jolly said voters are currently demanding historic change. He pointed to the elections of the last two years, in which, he said, voters have been backing Democratic candidates by margins of 15 and 20 points.
As an example, Jolly noted that the city of Miami elected a Democratic mayor for the first time in nearly 30 years, and that the result was not close, with a margin of 19 points. He framed that outcome as evidence of a broader shift in the electorate.
On why they are stronger running as a team, the candidates said people are exhausted by divisive politics, by anger and rhetoric, and by the marginalizing of communities based on the color of their skin, where they were born, who they love or who they worship. They said they offer a different vision for the state, one they had shared since their days in Congress.
Public education was placed at the center of their message. Graham stressed that her position is not anti-choice, saying she is a strong believer in choices, but argued that every student deserves a quality education and that there has been a concerted effort to privatize Florida's public education system.
She said resources have been drained from public schools, with districts such as Broward and Miami-Dade losing students to vouchers and charter schools over a long period. According to Graham, it is time to put resources back into the public school system and to pay teachers what they deserve.