James Call
Gwen Graham, the first-time politician who denied a Republican Congressman a third term, takes the oath of office Tuesday as a member of the 114th U.S. Congress. Graham is one of two freshmen Democrats to defeat an incumbent Republican in November.
Given the state of the Florida Democratic Party, the newly elected 2nd District Congresswoman is an instant star and potential statewide candidate.
“Her win was impressive in and of itself, but when put into context of what happened nationally it stand as an extremely impressive outlier,” said Steve Vancore, a Tallahassee-based pollster and political consultant.
The GOP picked up an additional 13 seats in the U.S. House, increasing its majority to 56 percent. Graham, the eldest child of former governor and U.S. Senator Bob Graham, campaigned on a platform of ending Washington gridlock in the 14-county district made up of several farming, fishing and logging communities.
During her nearly two-year campaign, the Washington Law School graduate was as likely to greet voters from Panama City to Perry with a hug as she was to ask for their vote. Speaking with constituents at a December holiday party, Graham recounted riding a horse in a parade down Bonifay’s main street as helping to produce a razor-thin victory to unseat Congressman Steve Southerland.
She said it was an example of how, “I connect with people.”
Graham persuaded voters to give her intimate approach to politics an opportunity to get government working again. In North Florida, that would mean money for infrastructure and other programs to enhance economic development. An undercurrent in her campaign was that “the North Florida Way” was to roll up your sleeves and get to work.
“I’ve asked to serve on the House Armed Services Committee to work on behalf of the service members and their families in the district, and the Committee on Agriculture to benefit the farmers we have in all 14 counties,” said Graham.
Graham didn’t stop campaigning in November.
Last month she also sent out a fundraising letter saying that the Republicans were already targeting her for the 2016 election. Vancore said it goes without saying, given her close victory, sizable majorities in both chambers in Washington and excess capital in Florida the GOP would focus on flipping the 2-nd District seat.
Vancore worked for the last Democrat who defeated the last incumbent Republican who held the seat, Pete Peterson. Peterson was a three-term congressman who declined to run for reelection. Vancore said Peterson solidified his grip on the seat by holding 50 town hall meetings his first two years in office.
“Pete was accessible and available to the district and despite facing both a primary and a general challenger, he blew the opponents out of the water,” said Vancore. “Gwen needs to keep this seat local, serve her constituents well and remain a-partisan to them.”
Graham scheduled more than 10 meetings and appearances in the District during the month of December. Included were meetings with chambers of commerce, realtors, a credit union association, visits to an elementary school and museum and an appearance at an event to encourage consumers to shop locally.
Graham’s pitch at a Tallahassee meeting with business owners was to ask, “how (do) you think the federal government can play a positive role.”
“I’m going to dedicate every day to bringing the North Florida way to Washington and making Congress work again. I’m optimistic that by building strong bipartisan relationships with other members and strengthening relationships with the agencies that serve our constituents we can end the gridlock and dysfunction in Congress,” Graham said in an email exchange.
In the interest of building bipartisan relationships, Graham has reached out to other members of the Florida Congressional delegation and has repeated her campaign statement that both the Democratic and Republican Congressional caucuses need new leadership.
