{"id":435642,"date":"2026-10-23T05:34:17","date_gmt":"2026-10-23T05:34:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/435642\/"},"modified":"2026-10-23T05:34:17","modified_gmt":"2026-10-23T05:34:17","slug":"bill-clinton-boosts-support-for-florida-governor-candidate-david-jolly-in-broward","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/435642\/","title":{"rendered":"Bill Clinton boosts support for Florida governor candidate David Jolly in Broward"},"content":{"rendered":"

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (SOUTH FLORIDA SUN SENTINEL) \u2014 With Election Day less than two weeks away, Democrat David Jolly\u2019s campaign<\/a> for Florida governor got a major boost, both financially and intrinsically, Tuesday in the form of former President Bill Clinton.<\/p>\n

Jolly and Clinton joined for an interfaith event at the Koinonia Worship Center<\/a> in Pembroke Park on Tuesday night, marking Clinton\u2019s first public campaign event of this election cycle. Clinton\u2019s appearance set out to send the message that Florida still has a strong chance to elect a Democratic governor, a feat that hasn\u2019t happened since 1991.<\/p>\n

A 53-year-old former U.S. House of Representatives member and ex-GOP member, Jolly early in his remarks tapped into that message, after joking that he was only \u201cthe warm-up act\u201d for Clinton: \u201cI\u2019ll tell you what\u2019s gonna happen. What\u2019s gonna happen on election night is this state\u2019s about to elect a Democratic governor \u201d as the sound of about 400 people clapping and shouting overpowered his voice.<\/p>\n

His opponent is the Republican candidate U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds, 47, who garnered early support from President Donald Trump, as did Gov. Ron DeSantis in his 2018 campaign. Four recent public opinion polls show Donalds, who was once registered as a Democrat, with a narrow lead over Jolly in the race. A University of North Florida poll released Wednesday showed the race in a virtual dead heat.<\/p>\n

Inside the church Tuesday night, a small choir sang Gospel and Soul music, including Sam Cooke\u2019s \u201cA Change is Gonna Come,\u201d before Jolly and Clinton entered. County Commissioner Alexandra P. Davis made the first remarks of the night with an introduction; when she called Jolly \u201cour soon-to-be governor,\u201d the crowd clapped and cheered.<\/p>\n

Leaders from Jewish, Muslim and Christian faiths gave short remarks and prayers. U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz and state Reps. Christine Hunschofsky and Marie Woodson were among several lawmakers in attendance. Jolly\u2019s wife, Laura, as well as his running mate for lieutenant governor, former U.S. Rep. Gwen Graham, who is the daughter of former governor and senator Bob Graham, also attended.<\/p>\n

Jolly entered into a nearly full-capacity room about 7 p.m. and launched into a spirited 18-minute speech that earned him a nickname from Clinton \u2014 \u201cReverend Jolly.\u201d<\/p>\n

See also: Former PBSO dispatcher sentenced after 2023 head-on DUI crash that killed mother<\/a><\/p>\n

With a campaign largely centered around affordability for Floridians, from healthcare costs to property insurance to under-funded public schools, Jolly centered many of his remarks around the themes of the \u201cfundamental goodness\u201d of people and \u201cthe calling of history.\u201d<\/p>\n

Throughout his speech, Jolly touched on his Christian faith while also citing the Quran and the Founding Fathers, acknowledging those who have \u201cno faith at all.\u201d At some moments, his supporters chanted his last name.<\/p>\n

About halfway into his speech, Jolly noted he hadn\u2019t yet talked about any policies.<\/p>\n

\u201cBecause you don\u2019t need to speak about policies when you recognize that the calling is for us to heal,\u201d he said, then rattled off how Florida can improve housing costs and access to healthcare, cut homeowners\u2019 insurance costs and invest in public education. He spoke about being part of a broken and polarized country yet it being one that is \u201cready for change.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201c We will never make America great again if we don\u2019t first make America good again,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The audience was energetic as Clinton entered the room with \u201cSigned, Sealed, Delivered (I\u2019m Yours)\u201d by Stevie Wonder playing. Organizers had to tell some guests toward the back of the room to sit down after they left their seats to get a little closer to the stage, trying to get a video or photo of the political celebrity on their cellphones.<\/p>\n

The 80-year-old stood behind a lectern at the front of the crowd in his blue suit and opened his half-hour speech with a comment about his age.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor most of my life, I was the youngest person doing whatever I was doing. One day I woke up, I was the oldest man in every room. I\u2019m not sure how I got from here to there. I will say that one blessing of being 80 is you can say whatever you want. Most people don\u2019t care anymore,\u201d Clinton said.<\/p>\n

It was among many of his comments, quips and jabs that drew laughs while he spoke. More seriously, Clinton numerous times in his speech said he was tired of the state of politics in the country, from the U.S. current handling of foreign affairs to political divisiveness to \u201cthe religious wars\u201d and \u201cthe culture wars.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m just tired. But there is a big difference between being tired and being through,\u201d Clinton said as supporters applauded. \u201cI\u2019m not through trying to make things better, and from what I heard tonight, I don\u2019t think you are either.\u201d<\/p>\n

Clinton said Jolly and Graham, whose father he called one of the best governors he had ever met, are running for \u201cthe right reasons.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jolly wants \u201cto give every Floridian, without regard to race, politics, religion, you name it, a chance to build a better life for themselves, their children, their state. And he has the background, the willingness, the ability and the determination to get it done,\u201d Clinton said.<\/p>\n

Clinton spoke briefly about Donalds, referring to him only as \u201chis opponent.\u201d He said he laughed when he saw recently that Donalds had removed several references of Trump from his campaign website, as reported by the Miami Herald.<\/p>\n

\u201cNow, I understand the need to periodically update your website,\u201d Clinton said as the room erupted in laughter. \u201cPeople in Florida are entitled to know, I think, whether you changed your mind or just changed the words, hoping nobody will notice. If the [Trump] agenda was good for Florida a few weeks ago, why don\u2019t you want to talk about it anymore? And if it isn\u2019t good enough, why don\u2019t you just say?\u201d<\/p>\n

Donalds\u2019 campaign in a written statement before the Tuesday event bashed the former president\u2019s appearance.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo has-been Democrat surrogate is going to change the fact that Democrat David Jolly would raise taxes on Floridians, make life more expensive, and \u2018test the limits\u2019 of Florida\u2019s constitution to force woke policies on the Sunshine State,\u201d Donalds\u2019 communications director Gates McGavick said. \u201cByron Donalds has the plan to make Florida more affordable and will keep Florida red on November 3rd \u2014 and he looks forward to campaigning with President Trump in Ft. Myers this Friday.\u201d<\/p>\n

Donalds\u2019 campaign has far surpassed Jolly in funds, with contributions totaling about $149 million compared to Jolly\u2019s about $22 million, the state campaign finance database\u2019s latest numbers show. But on Tuesday, the Democratic Governors Association said it would contribute $1 million to Jolly, the Wall Street Journal reported. Speaking with reporters after the event, Jolly called the DGA\u2019s investment \u201clate breaking, but we\u2019ll take every dollar we have.\u201d He acknowledged that the totals between the two campaigns are \u201cdramatically different\u201d and added that a private fundraiser with Clinton earlier in the day raised an additional $3 million for his campaign.<\/p>\n

As of 2026, there are 5.7 million active registered Republicans in Florida, nearly 1.5 million more than the number of Democrats and more than 2.3 million more than the number of those with no party affiliation. The number of registered Democrats in the state has not surpassed the number of Republicans since 2020.<\/p>\n

But in Broward, a county that remains Florida\u2019s biggest Democratic stronghold, voters vastly favor Jolly over Donalds, polls show.<\/p>\n

Wrapping up his speech, Jolly left the crowd with a motivational message about the gap between red and blue in the state.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to tell you what\u2019s going to happen in the newsrooms across the country When David Jolly and Gwen Graham have the opportunity to be elected the next governor and lieutenant governor of Florida, that\u2019s not going to be the story The story\u2019s going to be about a people in the deep red state of Florida, that after 30 years, realize that we are broken, we are being told to remain divided, and we\u2019re not going to do that anymore,\u201d Jolly shouted.<\/p>\n

He received a standing ovation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (SOUTH FLORIDA SUN SENTINEL) \u2014 With Election Day less than two weeks away, Democrat…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":435643,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[249,251,250],"class_list":["post-435642","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-fort-lauderdale","tag-fort-lauderdale","tag-fort-lauderdale-headlines","tag-fort-lauderdale-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/435642","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=435642"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/435642\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/435643"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=435642"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=435642"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=435642"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}