I am a lifelong Floridian, and I have lived all over this state.
Raised in Miami and North Florida. A Leon High graduate, like all three of my children. And now, the best title of all: grandmother.
A South Florida girl in North Florida
I was born in Miami in 1963 and I was three years old the first time my father was elected to anything. So I have lived my whole life in politics, but not the kind we see today. I moved to North Florida when Dad was elected governor in 1978. Things could have gone horribly wrong for a fifteen year old making a huge change like that, but the people of North Florida were so kind to me and to my family, and I have been a North Florida resident ever since.
I raised my three children here. We are all graduates of Leon High School. My children are grown now, and I am a grandmother to a precious little boy. My husband Steve has been by my side and supportive through everything.
I have always been proud to be Bob Graham's daughter.
When I joined this ticket, one of the first things that came out of the other side was to say I'm only here because of my last name. Let me just say this: there has not been a day in my life that I have not been proud to be Bob Graham's daughter. Not a day.
Dad cared about the people of Florida. He took care of our environment. People come up to me all the time to say, "I am a Republican, and I always voted for your dad." That means the world to me, because it means we can cut through this partisan divide. There is no one I would rather emulate in my life than my dad. And aren't I lucky for that?
What I learned from him: listen first
The number one leadership trait I learned from my dad is to listen. Dad did something he called work days. He would spend a full day doing someone else's job, and yes, it was about the work, but it was really about the people. He formed friendships on those days that he went back to for the rest of his career. When the truckers went on strike, he called the truckers that he had driven with to learn more about the issues.
I have done work days, too. There is nothing better than working side-by-side with someone and hearing about their family, their struggles, and their joys. It makes you a better leader. When I was in Congress, I told my team to bring me people who disagreed with me, because how else was I going to see an issue from a different perspective? I'll be doing more work days before Election Day. I'm looking forward to it!
The work that shaped me
I started in education, the way a lot of moms do: PTA president, then chair of the school advisory council, then the Leon County school district, where my job was to support teachers and students. Teachers are my heroes, and that has never changed.
In 2014, I ran for Congress the North Florida way, by bringing people together instead of dividing them, and I represented Florida's Second Congressional District from 2015 to 2017. That is where I met David. We were two of the four members of what we called the mighty Florida Bipartisan Caucus, and we became good friends. Together, we worked to protect Florida's coastline and joined Senator Bill Nelson to oppose oil drilling in the Gulf of Mexico. I served on the Armed Services and Agriculture Committees, rallied our delegation behind restoring Apalachicola Bay, and I was proud to join Congressman John Lewis in his sit-in against gun violence and on the fiftieth anniversary of Bloody Sunday in Selma.
I ran for governor in 2018. I did not win, and I am at peace with that, because now we have David, and he is going to win. From 2021 to 2025, I served as Assistant Secretary at the U.S. Department of Education. I have a bachelor's degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a law degree from American University.
A state my grandson would want to move back to.
Not one of my three grown children lives in Florida, and that makes me so sad. Young people finish school and leave, because of the cost of insurance, the cost of a home, the state of our schools. I want a Florida where families come because of the schools and the environment we provide, and where our own kids want to stay.
Here is my hope, plainly: You wake up in the morning looking forward to a good job. Your kids go to a great school. That afternoon you can go to the beach, or a spring, or one of our incredible state parks. You can afford to put dinner on the table, and you go to sleep happy, looking forward to the next day. That is the Florida I want for all Floridians.