When David Jolly drew an opponent in the race for the Democratic nomination to be Florida governor, he turned to Tallahassee to fortify his campaign.
Jolly quickly expanded his leadership team and drafted four Tallahasseans as campaign co-chairs and advisors, and a fifth for joint campaign appearances next month.
Jolly has been conducting a solitary campaign since June, urging Democrats to unify under his banner to claim the governor’s mansion after losing seven consecutive gubernatorial elections.
David Jolly announces in an interview with the Tallahassee Democrat that he is running as a democratic candidate for the Governor of Florida on Tuesday, June 3, 2025.
Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings filed for the Democratic nomination Friday, Oct. 31,
Demings is in his second term as Orange County Mayor and enters the race amidst questions whether the Democratic base – namely African American, and female voters – are accepting Jolly as the potential Democratic nominee.
Jolly has wandered in the political wilderness since leaving the GOP in 2016. He was a no-party affiliated voter before being a cofounder of the Forward Party and then joining the Democrats earlier this year.
Jerry Demings formal announcement of a gubernatorial campaign is expected Thursday, November 6, 2025
On Monday and Tuesday, 14 Democratic leaders from across the state joined the Jolly campaign and embraced his pledge to lower the cost of living in Florida.
Former Tallahassee Congresswoman Gwen Graham, a Democrat who was redistricted out of office in 2016, will reengage in Florida politics by joining Jolly for freewheeling townhalls in St. Petersburg Dec. 4, and Sarasota Dec. 11.
Jolly and Graham served together in Congress when then-Republican Jolly and Graham worked together on gun control measures in 2014. Jolly said he keeps a photo of himself, Graham and four others in deep discussion of how to ban bump stocks, which enables the rapid firing of rifles, in his office as a reminder of the bipartisan effort.
“We both believe our state’s best days are ahead, and I am excited to join my friend for a few days on the trail where, together, we can share David’s vision for Florida’s future,” Graham said.
Jolly also responded to the Demings challenge by naming Tallahassee attorney and political strategist Sean Pittman as a campaign co-chair.
Pittman was a top advisor to the 2018 Democratic nominee Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum who lost the 2018 election to Gov. Ron DeSantis by 32,000 votes, or 0.4%
Pittman said Jolly was “building a coalition that looks like the state we all love.”
Three others from Tallahassee will help shape the Jolly campaign message.
Sean Pittman chats with friends at the Annual Tallahassee Chamber of Commerce Breakfast on Thursday, Jan. 16, 2025.
Tallahassee Bethel Missionary Baptist Church Pastor the Rev. R.B. Holmes joins the campaign as the Faith Leadership Chair.
And Gayle Andrews, Tallahassee’s first Black television news anchor, and media consultant, has signed on as a senior campaign advisor.
In other appointments, Jolly said Sen. Tina Polsky, D-Fort Lauderdale, will serve as a co-chair with Pittman.
In the higher education silo, Jolly turns to Laurence Humphries, a Florida A&M University Foundation board member and the son of the late legendary FAMU President Frederick Humphries, and Suzanne Lewis, a former University of West Florida trustee as advisors.
And the campaign’s community development and empowerment efforts will be led by Escambia County Commissioner Lumon May, and Pinellas County Commissioner Rene Flowers.
James Call is a member of the USA TODAY NETWORK-Florida Capital Bureau. He can be reached at jcall@tallahassee.com. Follow on him Twitter: @CallTallahassee.
This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Gwen Graham, Sean Pittman join David Jolly campaign team