Deadline is close for a Murphy governor bid

TALLAHASSEE — David Jolly, a Republican considering an unprecedented joint run with Democrat Patrick Murphy, said Florida’s expensive media markets and the challenges of getting a campaign organization in place are the biggest obstacles to jumping into the race for governor this year.

“There’s still some personal decisions that need to get made for two guys who were not planning on running this November. That comes with some real personal reflection probably first and foremost,” said Jolly, a former congressman from Tampa. “And then knowing we could accomplish both the fundraising and organizational requirements obviously would be a prerequisite to doing that.”

Under the plan, Murphy, a former congressman from Jupiter, would run for governor in the Democratic primary and if he won, would name Jolly as his lieutenant governor running mate. The plan has been under consideration for at least a month, when a poll commissioned by an outside consultant showed Murphy would lead the other four candidates in the race.

But the unlikely pair faces a June 22 deadline to formally file papers to run. Before that they’d need to ensure plenty of financial support and enough campaign hands to compete against Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum, former U.S. Rep. Gwen Graham, Miami Beach Mayor Philip Levine and Winter Park businessman Chris King, some of whom have been running for a year or more.

“it’s clearly under serious consideration but within the context of a timeline that we’re very well aware could have significant influence on a final decision; this all arrived fairly late; or developed fairly late in the process; so we also have to be realistic about what it would mean to try to mount an organized statewide campaign at this late date,” Jolly said.

Some donors have already pledged money if they get in the race. The Tampa Bay Times reported Wednesday that Jay Foreman, CEO of Basic Fun!, the Boca Raton-based toy company that makes My Little Pony toys, has pledged between $20,000 to $40,000.

“If you consider every other candidate’s been raising money and up for a year, some of it’s been on TV,” Jolly said. “We have not been declared candidates nor run a campaign and we would start with a lead. So obviously that’s a significant advantage and one that we don’t want to ignore. It speaks to the fact that people are hungry for this type of bipartisanship in this climate.”

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