Scott Powers
Democratic gubernatorial candidate Gwen Graham is turning to her life as the PTA mom and as a school district lawyer in her latest digital ad, which her campaign is reporting is backed by a significant though unspecified advertising buy.
The two-minute, 13-second video is a quick biography of her, touching on her relationship with her father, former Gov. and Sen. Bob Graham, her early career, her children, her divorce, her second marriage, and her careers as a lawyer, PTA president, counsel for the Leon County School District, and in Congress.
But the themes seeks to portray her as an everywoman, and something of a political moderate, almost acknowledging contrasts with her Democratic rivals, Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum, Winter Park businessman Chris King, and former Miami Beach Mayor Philip Levine, who occasionally have attacked her for not being enough of a progressive for Democrats’ tastes. Gillum’s campaign took such a shot Thursday.
“As a mom and as a woman, you’re juggling a lot. Just making sure that you’re doing the best job at your professional responsibilities, but also making sure your kids have all they need at home,” Graham says in the video.
“I’m not a career politician,” she contends during a segment on her term in Congress representing north Florida, 2014-’16. “I built relationships and friendships across the aisle, and as a result I was able to get things done for the people of Florida.”
Her campaign said she is placing “a significant buy behind the ad across various digital platforms to share her positive message and story with Florida Democratic voters.”
