TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- The daughter of a former Florida governor is eying a congressional seat.
Gwen Graham, the daughter of Bob Graham, has filed to run for Congress in Florida's Second Congressional District, which runs across North Florida.
Graham is a Tallahassee resident. She was born in Miami and first came to Florida's capital city after her father was elected as governor. She raised later returned to raise her family – a daughter and two sons in Tallahassee. Graham currently works for the Leon County School District as a Director of Employee Relations.
Graham says that she decided to run because she wants to give the people of North Florida an independent voice in Congress – not one beholden to special interests or party politics.
"It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that Congress is a dysfunctional mess. They'd rather fight each other with the goal of scoring points on cable news instead of focusing on creating jobs and balancing the budget – in fact, Congress hasn't even passed a budget since Bobby Bowden was coach at FSU," Graham said in a statement released Tuesday.
She adds that she plans to use her influence to work across party lines to "create jobs, invest in education and balance our budget -with a plan that stands up for the middle class, keeps taxes low and protects Medicare and Social Security."
"I am ready to serve in Congress and be part of the solution, not more of the problem,” Graham said.
Graham, a Democrat, will challenge Republican incumbent Steve Southerland in the 2014 congressional race.
