Gwen Graham to Rick Scott: Keep voter data out of Donald Trump’s hands

It remains to be seen what pull Gwen Graham has with Florida Gov. Rick Scott, who finally has a “partner in the White House” in President Donald Trump.

However, when it comes to witholding Florida voter data from what she sees as a sham investigation into “non-existent” voter fraud, the Democratic Gubernatorial Candidate wants Scott to just say no to Trump.

The perceived need for the data by Trump’s Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity — data which includes partial Social Security numbers — nettles Graham.

“This commission is designed to prove something that has already been established as demonstratively false: President Trump’s ludicrous claim that 3-5 million Americans voted illegally in the last election,” Graham asserts in her letter to Scott.

Graham throws some heat at the Governor also: “As your administration learned after its costly, partisan attempt to purge our state’s voter rolls, there is no evidence of significant voter fraud in Florida. With these facts in mind, it would be irresponsible to send sensitive data on Florida voters to President Trump’s phony commission.”

Such rhetoric isn’t likely to sway Gov. Scott, of course; however, the press release from the Graham camp spotlights her plan for reform — also included in the letter.

It is full of familiar Democratic tropes: universal voter registration; re-enfranchisement of reformed felons; expanded early voting; and greater facilitation of voting on college campuses.

As the Andrew Gillum campaign becomes mired in one news cycle morass after another, Graham here makes a calculated play to progressives, delivering the partisan fire that it will take to get her through the primary with an energized base.