A.G. Gancarski
The big losers of the recent judicial setback for the redistricting challenge of Rep. Corrine Brown were the Jacksonville Congresswoman and Rep. Gwen Graham.
Graham, an exponent of the moderate “North Florida Way,” saw her Congressional District 2 redrawn in such a way that it will be a heavy lift for any Democrat to win.
While Brown said Wednesday that she intends to declare her candidacy in the newly-drawn east/west configuration of CD 5, in which she will run against moderate Democrat Al Lawson, a former Florida State Seminole basketball player with decades of statehouse experience, Gwen Graham is still weighing her options.
And former Sen. Graham is not tipping his daughter’s hand.
“I have the utmost confidence in Gwen’s decision making,” Graham told FloridaPolitics.com Wednesday, adding that “she served so well in her first term” and that “she has several options.”
Graham noted that of 435 Congress members, she was ranked 7th in terms of bipartisanship.
“That’s her approach. She’s not representing a party or a special interest. She’s there to represent the people who elected her.”
The question, of course, isn’t the people who elected her in 2014… but the people who she may run to represent in 2016 (or 2018, if she is interested in running for Governor, as many have speculated, or Senator, if Bill Nelson does not run again).
And to be sure, there are 2016 options, though each comes with caveats. CD 2 leans GOP. CD 5 would find her in a race against two credible opponents. As would a run for United States Senate.
Graham tells us his daughter is “now considering [those] options, in light of the court’s action.”
While Gwen Graham “hasn’t made a decision,” she no doubt will soon.
