On Thursday, two former congressmen from Florida who ran for the U.S. Senate in 2016--Republican David Jolly and Democrat Patrick Murphy--announced they were expanding their tour focusing on how to solve gridlock in Washington, D.C.
Last month, Jolly and Murphy announced they would make a tour of the Sunshine State to “pull back the curtain on Washington and shine a light on the inside reasons why D.C. is in a state of chaos and dysfunction” with four appearances across the state to focus on “Why Gridlock Rules Washington and How We Can Solve the Crisis.”
In addition to already scheduled appearances at Florida International University, the University of Miami and the University of Florida in October, Jolly and Murphy added events at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. on Monday Oct. 16 and at the University of Central Florida in Orlando on Tuesday, October 17. Their event at the University of South Florida in Tampa was moved to Thursday, October 12 after this month’s hurricanes.
"Working across the aisle was a hallmark of my two terms in Congress, and the relationships I formed with members of both parties were invaluable,” Murphy said last month when he and Jolly announced they would be holding joint appearances. “I look forward to joining my former colleague as we share our perspectives on ways we must work together to improve our broken political system.”
“Even in times of great disagreement there are ways of finding common ground, there are opportunities for bipartisan leadership to solve some of our country’s toughest issues,” Jolly said. “I’m excited and proud to join my friend on a statewide tour to discuss how this can be accomplished in today’s hyper-partisan world of politics.”
Both Jolly and Murphy were involved in last year’s U.S. Senate race. Jolly ran for the Republican Senate nomination until U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., who had said he would not run for a second term, jumped back in at the last minute. Murphy won the Democratic nomination, beating then U.S. Rep. Alan Grayson in the primary, but lost to Rubio in November.
In Congress, Jolly and Murphy worked together, including helping launch the Coastal Communities Caucus in early 2015. Both men represented swing districts and tried to claim the political center during their time in Washington.
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