Add one more name to the mix of possible Democratic gubernatorial candidates. On Friday, Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum announced he was “seriously considering” running for Florida governor in 2018.
Gillum made the announcement through a series of tweets posted Friday morning, hours before he was scheduled to prepare similar remarks at a Central Florida Urban League conference in Orlando.
“I think my experiences reflect those of many working Floridians,” said Gillum. “Those folks deserve someone to champion them. I'm seriously considering running for Governor so that we can rebuild Florida into a state that works for all of us.
Gillum, 37, has served as Tallahassee mayor since 2014.
“I don’t come from a background that suggests I should consider a run for Florida governor,” Gillum wrote. “My mom was a bus driver, my dad a construction worker.”
Florida and its public programs, Gillum said, vastly impacted his life and compelled him to give back.
“I owe a debt to the people of Florida,” he wrote. “Public education changed my life. I benefited from every part of the public system that made opportunity possible in Florida. I choose to repay that through public service.”
Gillum has a storied history in local politics. At 23, he became the youngest person to serve on the Tallahassee City Commission and worked in the community to build local youth restorative justice programs.
If elected, Gillum would become one of the youngest governors in the state’s history. He faces a potentially crowded field of contenders for the job, including former U.S. Rep. Gwen Graham, Miami Beach Mayor Philip Levine, uber lawyer John Morgan and conservationist and alligator wrestler Ron Bergeron.
Gillum’s time in Tallahassee has not been met without criticism. Last October, the city came under fire over massive power outages following Hurricane Hermine, when some say he turned down outside help to get the lights back on in the state’s capital city.
Gillum denied refusing help.
“The city of Tallahassee, and everyone that I have spoken to says that folks have not been, help has not been refused," he said. "What has happened, the city, in it’s recovery effort has to phase in the kinds of support that we’re able to absorb at any point in time."
Reaching out to a statewide audience could prove to be a challenge for Gillum, whose location puts him in a tight spot geographically since most of the Democratic base is located in South Florida.
Other contenders like Graham have already been making calls to local figures, feeling out potential voting blocs as the Democratic primary heats up.
Some Democratic activists say Gillum’s announcement is a boon to the base of the Democratic Party, which has struggled to gain momentum in Florida for the last two decades.
Democratic turnout will be a special challenge in during a midterm election, when turnout tends to be lower, especially among Democrats.
“Andrew Gillum realizes that it is going to take an earthquake of seismic proportions to wake up the sleeping giant that is the Democratic base during a midterm election,” said Democratic African American Women’s Caucus president Leslie Wimes. “He is a great guy, and would make a great governor. Democrats can't keep doing the same thing, which they have been for the last two decades, and expecting different results, or they will keep losing. At some point, we have to pay attention to the base. That point has come.”
Gillum agreed, saying it was time to turn the tides blue on a state which has been washed in red for so many years.
“The direction that our state government has gone these last 20 years is out of step with the majority of Floridians,” he said.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
Reach reporter Allison Nielsen by email at allison@sunshinestatenews.com or follow her on Twitter: @AllisonNielsen.
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