Graham faces scrutiny as 5 Democrats clash
Front-runner’s environmental record questioned before statewide TV audience
Front-runner Gwen Graham took jabs in the final Democratic gubernatorial debate from her opponents who questioned her environmental record and her wavering on whether she’d welcome Bill Clinton’s support on the campaign trail.
Florida’s five Democratic candidates for governor — Andrew Gillum, Graham, Jeff Greene, Chris King and Philip Levine — clashed in the contest Thursday night in Palm Beach Gardens with polls showing Graham in the lead but a quarter of Democratic voters still undecided.
King criticized Graham for her family’s involvement in developing an office and residential park adjacent to the planned American Dream Miami megamall on the edge of the Everglades in northwest Miami-Dade County, two miles south of the Broward border. Environmental groups oppose the American Dream project.
“It will be a mecca for low-wage jobs built on the edge of the Everglades,” King said. “You can’t make this stuff up.”
The candidates agreed that Presi-
dent Donald Trump has been bad for Florida, but they quarreled over who has stood up to him the most.
Levine and King criticized Greene for a statement he made in an interview on the day after the election calling Trump “a great guy.” Greene, a Palm Beach billionaire, is a neighbor of Trump’s and is a member of his Mar-a-Lago Club.
“I am the only one who has stood up to Donald Trump,” Greene said, referencing interviews he’s done criticizing the president.
Greene countered by criticizing Levine for giving money to Republican Sen. Marco Rubio’s campaign in 2009. Gillum said he’s the only candidate on the debate stage who has called for Trump’s impeachment.
“He is undeserving of the title of president of the United States,” Gillum said.
The event offered candidates a chance to make one last pitch before a statewide television audience in advance of early voting starts for the Aug. 28 primary. The debate moderators covered a variety of topics — guns, school safety, the economy, toxic algae blooms, taxes and education spending.
Candidates agreed on many issues. Guns should be more tightly regulated. Teachers need to be paid more. The minimum wage should be raised. Criminal justice reform is needed to reduce the state’s prison population. Florida’s “stand your ground” law must be repealed.
Polling in the past eight days from three different pollsters has shown Graham leading the pack with Levine and Greene finishing in either second or third place. Gillum, who recently scored an endorsement from Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, and King are rounding out the field.
Candidates sought to gain ground by challenging Graham. Greene joined in the criticism of Graham’s family involvement in the American Dream project, then blasted her for voting for the controversial Keystone XL pipeline when she was in Congress. Environmentalists vehemently opposed Keystone XL, which is designed to move oil from Canada through the U.S. to Gulf Coast oil refineries.
Afterward, Graham said she expected to come under scrutiny. “You know what? Politics is a contact sport. It’s a contact sport. So I can take it. I was expecting to get attacked tonight, and my expectations were proven true.”
Expecting the American Dream issue to come up, her campaign issued a press release on the subject moments after King brought it up.
Graham said she removed herself from her family company and took steps to put her holdings in a blind trust. She said she’ll recuse herself from any questions about the development if elected governor. And Graham, whose father is a former Florida governor and U.S. senator, used the occasion to say she was proud of her family’s service.
Graham also didn’t directly answer a question on whether she’d want former President Clinton’s support on the campaign trail given the #MeToo movement, saying only that the Clintons served admirably and she’d “welcome many people to Florida.”
Levine quipped, “I would welcome him with open arms.”
Asked if they raise taxes, Gillum said he would not raise taxes on “everyday Floridians,” but he would change the way corporations taxed. Graham, Greene and Levine said they would pay for their initiatives by shifting priorities in the budget — not through tax increases. King vowed he would pay for his initiatives, which include free community college, “without adding to our tax burden.”
The televised debate in Palm Beach Gardens was broadcast to all of the state’s 10 media markets and was sponsored by the Florida Press Association and WPBF-Ch. 25.
The candidates had limited time to make their case. The one-hour time limit and crowded field of contenders only allowed for 12 minutes of speaking time per candidate.
Republicans have controlled the governorship for the past 20 years.
The Republican Party declined an invitation to participate in a South Florida debate that was set for Aug. 1. U.S. Rep. Ron DeSantis and Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam are leading candidates in that race.
Today, the Democratic candidates will appear before for editorial boards of the three big South Florida newspapers — the Miami Herald, The Palm Beach Post and the South Florida Sun Sentinel. The one-on-one interviews throughout the day will be streamed online. The Republican candidates declined an invitation.
King called DeSantis — who has been gaining ground in the polls — the likely nominee.
Trump rallied support for DeSantis at a rally on Tuesday in Tampa.
“That should terrify working families across the state,” he said. “He is competing to be Donald Trump’s apprentice.”