About 150 supporters of Democratic gubernatorial candidate David Jolly gathered Wednesday to welcome him to Gainesville days before Florida’s general elections on Tuesday.
His message was clear: Vote, and bring your neighbor with you.
Joining Jolly on his visit to the Gainesville Woman’s Club as part of his statewide “Believe in Better Tour” was U.S. Rep. Maxwell Frost, an Orlando Democrat who was also the first Gen Z member of Congress, and Jolly’s running mate, Gwen Graham.
The crowd – mostly made up of older Alachua County Democrats – roared as Jolly spoke on Amendment 3, improving healthcare affordability and teaching African American history in schools.
“Amendment 3 is the ultimate preemption: taking away the ability of a local community to tax and to budget,” he said.
During his approximately 30-minute speech, Jolly also focused on education as what he called an “economic crisis for families.” The topic of teachers’ wages came up multiple times throughout his speech. “Despite the love and passion of teachers who leave it on the field every day, they are paid last in the nation,” he said.
Education is an issue close to 18-year-old Ezekiel Baker’s heart. And for education policy, he says Jolly has his vote.
“I come from a school that is severely underfunded, and his education reform means a lot to me and my community,” said Baker. “His change could impact tons of students who have been cut out of the proper education that we deserve.”
Jolly also took shots at State Surgeon General Dr. Joseph Ladapo, saying that ousting Ladapo would be one of his first orders of business if elected.
“I talk about accepting science and data and all the things that contribute to human progress,” Jolly said. “So yes, I talk about replacing the surgeon general of the state of Florida.”
In his time as surgeon general, Ladapo has worked alongside Gov. Ron DeSantis to roll back school vaccine mandates. He also likened the vaccine requirements to “slavery,” saying they infringe on parents’ rights to make health decisions for their children.
Jolly’s visit to Gainesville, a city with one of the highest concentrations of 20-somethings thanks to Santa Fe College and the University of Florida, comes days before Florida voters decide who will succeed Gov. Ron DeSantis, a term-limited governor who took office in 2019.
Jolly faces Republican opponent, Byron Donalds, in a steep race for the governorship. Although Alachua County is a blue stronghold with about 26,000 more Democrats registered than Republicans, Florida Republicans outnumber Democrats statewide by 1.5 million registered voters, and election polling changes by the minute every day as voters continue to cast their ballots early.
Frost said he’s confident Florida Democrats can turn the state blue, but there’s still more work to do.
“When you help someone make a plan to vote, they are 90% more likely to go vote,” he said, “In 2018, we lost by less than a percentage point. The math came out to be that we lost by seven votes per precinct. That’s a canvas. That’s a phone bank.”
Pat Farrell is the president of the Alachua County Progressive Caucus, and she said she came to Jolly’s rally ready to act.
“What brought me here today is that I’m very interested in taking back Florida for the people,” Farrell said. “We’ve been in the grips of Republican corporate control, and we’re ready to kick it out.”
Jolly’s challenge throughout his campaign has not only been to encourage Democrats to turn out and convince Republicans to flip their party vote, but also to break historical records in what’s become a deep-crimson state in recent years. In 2022, DeSantis swept his victory by 20 percentage points, setting a dominant standard for Republican hopefuls statewide. Florida hasn’t had a Democratic governor since the 1990s.
Despite Jolly being considered by national political strategists as a longshot win, an Oct. 21 University of North Florida poll of 1,471 voters showed Donalds with a slight lead of 49% over Jolly’s 47%. The sample’s margin of error was 2.8%.
Jolly ended his speech with a fiery call to action.
“What do we owe to this moment, when history is watching, when history is calling?” he asked.
Election Day is Nov. 3. In Alachua County, early voting ends on Nov. 1. For more information on early voting, check out WUFT’s Early Voting Guide.