Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Challengers meet at forum
Democrats vying for governor’s seat
their backgrounds and top priorities, the three Democratic candidates for governor tried to distinguish themselves from each other at a forum Monday in West Palm Beach.
Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum said his race is “informed by an everyday experience,” which contrasts with former Congresswoman Gwen Graham, daughter of former senator and governor Bob Graham, and Chris King, a wealthy OrlandoCiting area entrepreneur. “I understand what it’s like in this state to grow up under two of the hardestworking people I know, my mother and father, and see them struggle to make ends meet no matter how hard they worked,” Gillum said.
King said his top priority would be to turn around the economy. While acknowledging Florida’s low unemployment numbers, he said, “Florida sadly has become a backof-the-pack
state in nearly every economic and quality of life measure,” including wages and GDP.
Graham agreed, repeating a laugh line poking fun at Gov. Rick Scott’s constant refrain. “When I hear Gov. Scott say ‘jobs, jobs, jobs,’ I hear you’re going to have to work three jobs just to get by.”
Both Gillum and Graham said turning around Florida’s public schools would be their No. 1 priority as governor, but they would go about it in different ways.
Graham said she would end high-stakes tests, forprofit charter schools and labeling schools with letter grades, and she would also ensure that Florida Lottery money earmarked for schools is used to supplement state education funding rather than supplant it.
It’s “appalling what has happened in the last 20 years to our education system,” she said.
Gillum’s plan for turning around public schools included higher pay for teachers, more focus on preschool and apprenticeships and other job-training programs for high-school students who don’t plan to attend college, “so that when they graduate from high school we’re not sending this signal that life is over if you’re not on a collegebound track.”
All three candidates favor a $15 per hour minimum wage, far higher than Florida’s current $8.10 per hour. Graham called it “a good place to start the discussion.”
And all three candidates support removing Confederate monuments on public land.
“You can probably guess how I feel about this,” said Gillum who, if elected, would be Florida’s first African-American governor.
“It’s time and it’s right to take down all of our Confederate monuments across the state of Florida,” King added.
If elected, any of the three would be a Democratic governor in a state whose legislature is dominated by Republicans. While King called for a bipartisan approach, Graham went a step further, saying that if such an approach failed, the governor has the power to force issues that matter.
“I will veto every single pet project in the budget till we get back to the table,” she said, especially where reforms and funding for public education are concerned.
The final similarity between the three was in their answer to the final question at the Forum of the Palm Beaches lunch at the Kravis Center for the Performing Arts: What political issue have you changed your mind on?
None of the three answered the question. King said he had “renewed emphasis” on LGBT issues; Gillum segued into a discussion of how he took on the NRA in Tallahassee; and Graham said her beliefs had not changed, though her life has.
“My life brought me here,” she said. “We’ve got to win this election for the people of Florida.”
King called himself “the only person [running for governor] on this side of the aisle who has built things and grown things ... who has employed people.”
“Which candidate can create the most positive difference in your life and in the life of this state?” he asked.
Gillum ended by once again highlighting the humble background that separates him from his opponents.
“Everyday people should have a shot of leading as well,” he said. “Give me the only thing I’ve ever asked for — a chance.”
Scott is term-limited out of office in 2018 and widely expected to challenge Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson. On the Republican side, Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam and state Sen. Jack Latvala, R-Clearwater, have already said they’re running for governor.
More candidates are expected to join on both sides. House Speaker Richard Corcoran, R-Land O’Lakes; U.S. Rep. Ron DeSantis, RPonte Vedra Beach; Democratic Miami Beach Mayor Philip Levine; and Orlando-area lawyer and major Democratic fundraiser John Morgan have all expressed interest in a run at the governor’s mansion.