Jacob Ogles
Lakeland political leader Paul Dockery endorsed Democratic gubernatorial candidate Andrew Gillum today just as Republican Ron DeSantis campaigned in her hometown.
“Andrew Gillum is the governor that Florida needs right now,” said Dockery, who was elected as a Republican representing Lakeland in the state House and Senate over the course of 16 years.
“Our state stands at a crossroads — our schools are facing massive teacher shortages, nearly one in five Floridians don’t have health care, and both coasts are being impacted by dangerous environmental crises.”
Gillum touted Dockery as the latest former Republican official to jump off the GOP train and get on track with the Democratic campaign.
Of course, it’s been some time since many of the Republicans on that list, including Dockery, counted themselves as loyal Republicans.
The list reads in many ways like a #NeverTrump roll call, with Dockery joining former Rep. David Jolly and South Florida political commentator Ana Navarro among centrist Republican (or former Republican) voices backing Gillum’s progressive candidacy.
Dockery, who ran for governor as a Republican in 2010, always billed herself as a moderate and now works as a syndicated columnist. She’s been deeply critical of Republican President Donald Trump.
She issued her endorsement of Gillum a day after he briefly left the trail to return to Tallahassee after a mass shooting.
“During a time of tremendous challenges, Mayor Gillum has risen to the occasion,” Dockery said. “He has run a positive, inspirational campaign and put forward specific and ambitious plans that will expand health care coverage for 800,000 Floridians, pay our teachers a competitive salary, and stop pollution at its source.”
She took a swipe at Gov. Rick Scott’s “eight years of dysfunction and slash-and-burn tactics” and said Gillum could restore principle in Tallahassee.
““For too long, leaders in the Capitol have failed to address the pressing issues facing this state — and Ron DeSantis will continue the dysfunction that has paralyzed our politics,” Dockery said.
“As a member of Congress, DeSantis never passed a bill and spent more time talking about Donald Trump on Fox News than serving his constituents. That’s exactly the type of cynical, self-interested politics that has left our water polluted, our schools overpopulated, and our health care system dysfunctional.
“Mayor Gillum’s uplifting, substantive campaign has made me proud to be a Floridian — and that is why I am ready to bring it home this Tuesday.”
