June 11, 2026 • 7 mins
Ryan talks to Publisher of Southeast Politics Janelle Irwin Taylor about David Jolly selecting Gwen Graham as his running mate in the 2026 Florida governor’s race. The discussion explores the political strategy behind the decision, how the ticket could appeal to Florida voters, and what it means for the broader Democratic effort to compete statewide.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
The Ryan Gorman Show podcast presented by Verah and Farah
Accident Attorneys from Tampa.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
Let's bring in the publisher of Southeast Politics, Janelle Irwin Taylor,
is with us again this morning. You can find all
of her work and a whole lot more at Southeast
politics dot com and you can follow her on excess
well at Janelle Irwin fl So Janelle David Jolly picks
former Congresswoman Gwen Graham as his running mate for this
(00:29):
race for governor. We knew this was coming just when
he was going to officially make this announcement. What do
you make of the decision and the strategy behind the
Jolly campaign and their approach to lieutenant governor?
Speaker 3 (00:46):
You know, it kind of almost feels like the political
version of the hippocratic os, right, like do no harm?
Speaker 4 (00:53):
Yeah, nice, She's Gwen Graham is a very she's.
Speaker 3 (01:00):
A woman, so she you knows, possibly kind of exactly
checks that box.
Speaker 4 (01:06):
But she's very centrist.
Speaker 3 (01:08):
There's nothing about her that's and I don't mean this
in a bad way, there's just nothing about her that
stands out as particularly remarkable, right, So I don't think
that she's going to bring a whole lot of excitement
to the campaign.
Speaker 4 (01:21):
But that might be the point, right, Like, there's we
live in a red state.
Speaker 3 (01:27):
With one point five million more registered Republicans than Democrats
and growing, and so you know, David Jolly is trying
to kind of ride this. I'm going to appeal to
Republicans who maybe are frustrated with the current presidential administration
and people in the forgotten middle to sort of you know,
(01:48):
bridge that gap and maybe be.
Speaker 4 (01:50):
Competitive in November.
Speaker 3 (01:52):
But what he's not doing by this pick is mobilizing
the further left quadrant of the Democratic Party. So there's
a there was a decision that was made there and
it was.
Speaker 4 (02:03):
The right one.
Speaker 2 (02:04):
I'm guessing that the calculation is the left is going
to be energized to push back against President Trump in
this mid term election, and what David Jolly and Gwen
Graham are going to try to do is win over
(02:24):
the independence here in Florida. We're going to be key
in this election and try to get some of those
more disaffected Republicans, ones who aren't thrilled with President Trump,
maybe aren't thrilled with some of the things that Governor
DeSantis has done. That that that's kind of what they're
going for risky strategy, but like you said, in a
(02:49):
state that's gone so red, maybe it's not a bad one.
Speaker 4 (02:53):
Well, yes, that is all very true.
Speaker 3 (02:55):
But two things can be true, and it's it's also
true that you know, you had eight years ago when
Andrew Gillum kind of came out from nowhere, and you know,
we obviously know things now that we didn't know then,
But before all of the controversies, you know, was he
was a candidate who came as close to winning as
he did because people voted who don't usually vote. He
(03:19):
was a motivating candidate. He had kind of a Barack
Obama thing going on. And when Graham does not bring
that to David Jolly's campaign, and I don't know anybody
who would argue that he brings it himself. So there's
a concern that without motivating those further left portions of
the party that don't often show up to vote because
they don't feel motivated, that that's not happening here.
Speaker 4 (03:42):
This is a very different Florida than it was eight
years ago.
Speaker 3 (03:45):
There was still a Democratic voter registration advantage back then.
So the calculus can't be one or the other.
Speaker 4 (03:52):
It has to be both.
Speaker 2 (03:53):
How big of a portion of the Democratic base here
in Florida do you think does lean that far to
the left, is part of more of a progressive kind
of caucus.
Speaker 4 (04:10):
Certainly, it is not a huge place of voters.
Speaker 3 (04:14):
I would say they are very much in the minority
of the state's Democratic Party.
Speaker 4 (04:19):
And I think that you find, though that a lot
of people who.
Speaker 3 (04:22):
Aren't registered at all with a political party who are NPA.
Speaker 4 (04:27):
I would argue a.
Speaker 3 (04:28):
Lot of those people tend to be fairly progressive. So
even though it's a small percentage of the overall electorate,
it still represents a significant voting block that can't be ignored.
Speaker 2 (04:39):
We're joined by the publisher of Southeast Politics, Janelle Irwin Taylor,
speaking about David Jolly's announcement is likely going to be
the Democratic nominee for governor, picking former Congresswoman Gwen Graham,
who's the daughter of former Florida Governor and Senator Bob Graham,
as is running mate. I do think what ticket does,
(05:01):
and we've already seen David Jolly do this up to
this point. There really isn't a part of Florida that
they can't go to and speak to voters and I
think that's part of the strategy right for them to
hit all areas of the state, including some parts that
have been ignored by the Democratic Party for years now.
Speaker 3 (05:24):
Absolutely, the David Jolly campaign is doing an excellent job
of getting out there into communities that aren't used to
having attention paying to them and political races. So that's
a really key part of what he's trying to do.
And you know, when you have the major issue and
(05:44):
an election cycle being related to affordability broadly, that really
is just an easy thing to campaign on across the board.
These are not culture war issues or anything like that.
Speaker 4 (05:58):
Like literally every.
Speaker 3 (06:00):
Single person that cares how much their grocery bill is
and how much their water bill and their electric bill
and all those other things are, so you can really
reach people on these kitchen table issues in a way
that transcends partisanship.
Speaker 2 (06:14):
Do you think the timing of this announcement last question
for you, was this a message to anyone else in
the Democratic Party who might have been thinking about getting
in at the last second, that don't bother. We've kind
of got this thing locked up. Now we've got you know,
a full ticket.
Speaker 3 (06:35):
I mean, I don't think the David Jolly campaign needed
to send that message is already out there well enough,
but the timing is important because if you'll remember, it
was only last week that Orange County Mayor Jerry Demmings
dropped out of the race, you know, sadly because of
a cancer diagnosis particular. It does it really seals up
(07:00):
the ticket. It's highly unlikely that there's anybody who's going
to surge to the top to topple David Jolly. So,
you know, I think the timing of that was kind
of a tacited acknowledgment that Okay, we're we're moving into general.
Speaker 4 (07:14):
Election vote now, all right.
Speaker 2 (07:16):
The publisher of Southeast Politics, Janelle Irwin Taylor, with us
this morning again. You can check out all of our
work and a whole lot more at Southeast politics dot
com and you can follow her on x for more
at Janelle Irwin fl Janelle, thanks so much for coming
back on again this week. Really appreciate it. Lots of
lots of news tied to Forlorida poll.
Speaker 4 (07:34):
Yeah, thanks for having me.
Speaker 1 (07:36):
Pus and Live to a Ryan Gorman Show on iHeartRadio
every weekday morning on w IOD in Miami, w f
LA and Tampa presented by Verah and Arah Accident Attorneys, Tampa,
The Ryan Gorman Show podcast presented by Verah and Farah
Accident Attorneys from Tampa.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
Let's bring in the publisher of Southeast Politics, Janelle Irwin Taylor,
is with us again this morning. You can find all
of her work and a whole lot more at Southeast
politics dot com and you can follow her on excess
well at Janelle Irwin fl So Janelle David Jolly picks
former Congresswoman Gwen Graham as his running mate for this
(00:29):
race for governor. We knew this was coming just when
he was going to officially make this announcement. What do
you make of the decision and the strategy behind the
Jolly campaign and their approach to lieutenant governor?
Speaker 3 (00:46):
You know, it kind of almost feels like the political
version of the hippocratic os, right, like do no harm?
Speaker 4 (00:53):
Yeah, nice, She's Gwen Graham is a very she's.
Speaker 3 (01:00):
A woman, so she you knows, possibly kind of exactly
checks that box.
Speaker 4 (01:06):
But she's very centrist.
Speaker 3 (01:08):
There's nothing about her that's and I don't mean this
in a bad way, there's just nothing about her that
stands out as particularly remarkable, right, So I don't think
that she's going to bring a whole lot of excitement
to the campaign.
Speaker 4 (01:21):
But that might be the point, right, Like, there's we
live in a red state.
Speaker 3 (01:27):
With one point five million more registered Republicans than Democrats
and growing, and so you know, David Jolly is trying
to kind of ride this. I'm going to appeal to
Republicans who maybe are frustrated with the current presidential administration
and people in the forgotten middle to sort of you know,
(01:48):
bridge that gap and maybe be.
Speaker 4 (01:50):
Competitive in November.
Speaker 3 (01:52):
But what he's not doing by this pick is mobilizing
the further left quadrant of the Democratic Party. So there's
a there was a decision that was made there and
it was.
Speaker 4 (02:03):
The right one.
Speaker 2 (02:04):
I'm guessing that the calculation is the left is going
to be energized to push back against President Trump in
this mid term election, and what David Jolly and Gwen
Graham are going to try to do is win over
(02:24):
the independence here in Florida. We're going to be key
in this election and try to get some of those
more disaffected Republicans, ones who aren't thrilled with President Trump,
maybe aren't thrilled with some of the things that Governor
DeSantis has done. That that that's kind of what they're
going for risky strategy, but like you said, in a
(02:49):
state that's gone so red, maybe it's not a bad one.
Speaker 4 (02:53):
Well, yes, that is all very true.
Speaker 3 (02:55):
But two things can be true, and it's it's also
true that you know, you had eight years ago when
Andrew Gillum kind of came out from nowhere, and you know,
we obviously know things now that we didn't know then,
But before all of the controversies, you know, was he
was a candidate who came as close to winning as
he did because people voted who don't usually vote. He
(03:19):
was a motivating candidate. He had kind of a Barack
Obama thing going on. And when Graham does not bring
that to David Jolly's campaign, and I don't know anybody
who would argue that he brings it himself. So there's
a concern that without motivating those further left portions of
the party that don't often show up to vote because
they don't feel motivated, that that's not happening here.
Speaker 4 (03:42):
This is a very different Florida than it was eight
years ago.
Speaker 3 (03:45):
There was still a Democratic voter registration advantage back then.
So the calculus can't be one or the other.
Speaker 4 (03:52):
It has to be both.
Speaker 2 (03:53):
How big of a portion of the Democratic base here
in Florida do you think does lean that far to
the left, is part of more of a progressive kind
of caucus.
Speaker 4 (04:10):
Certainly, it is not a huge place of voters.
Speaker 3 (04:14):
I would say they are very much in the minority
of the state's Democratic Party.
Speaker 4 (04:19):
And I think that you find, though that a lot
of people who.
Speaker 3 (04:22):
Aren't registered at all with a political party who are NPA.
Speaker 4 (04:27):
I would argue a.
Speaker 3 (04:28):
Lot of those people tend to be fairly progressive. So
even though it's a small percentage of the overall electorate,
it still represents a significant voting block that can't be ignored.
Speaker 2 (04:39):
We're joined by the publisher of Southeast Politics, Janelle Irwin Taylor,
speaking about David Jolly's announcement is likely going to be
the Democratic nominee for governor, picking former Congresswoman Gwen Graham,
who's the daughter of former Florida Governor and Senator Bob Graham,
as is running mate. I do think what ticket does,
(05:01):
and we've already seen David Jolly do this up to
this point. There really isn't a part of Florida that
they can't go to and speak to voters and I
think that's part of the strategy right for them to
hit all areas of the state, including some parts that
have been ignored by the Democratic Party for years now.
Speaker 3 (05:24):
Absolutely, the David Jolly campaign is doing an excellent job
of getting out there into communities that aren't used to
having attention paying to them and political races. So that's
a really key part of what he's trying to do.
And you know, when you have the major issue and
(05:44):
an election cycle being related to affordability broadly, that really
is just an easy thing to campaign on across the board.
These are not culture war issues or anything like that.
Speaker 4 (05:58):
Like literally every.
Speaker 3 (06:00):
Single person that cares how much their grocery bill is
and how much their water bill and their electric bill
and all those other things are, so you can really
reach people on these kitchen table issues in a way
that transcends partisanship.
Speaker 2 (06:14):
Do you think the timing of this announcement last question
for you, was this a message to anyone else in
the Democratic Party who might have been thinking about getting
in at the last second, that don't bother. We've kind
of got this thing locked up. Now we've got you know,
a full ticket.
Speaker 3 (06:35):
I mean, I don't think the David Jolly campaign needed
to send that message is already out there well enough,
but the timing is important because if you'll remember, it
was only last week that Orange County Mayor Jerry Demmings
dropped out of the race, you know, sadly because of
a cancer diagnosis particular. It does it really seals up
(07:00):
the ticket. It's highly unlikely that there's anybody who's going
to surge to the top to topple David Jolly. So,
you know, I think the timing of that was kind
of a tacited acknowledgment that Okay, we're we're moving into general.
Speaker 4 (07:14):
Election vote now, all right.
Speaker 2 (07:16):
The publisher of Southeast Politics, Janelle Irwin Taylor, with us
this morning again. You can check out all of our
work and a whole lot more at Southeast politics dot
com and you can follow her on x for more
at Janelle Irwin fl Janelle, thanks so much for coming
back on again this week. Really appreciate it. Lots of
lots of news tied to Forlorida poll.
Speaker 4 (07:34):
Yeah, thanks for having me.
Speaker 1 (07:36):
Pus and Live to a Ryan Gorman Show on iHeartRadio
every weekday morning on w IOD in Miami, w f
LA and Tampa presented by Verah and Arah Accident Attorneys, Tampa,
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