Gwen Graham | |
|---|---|
 Official portrait, 2015 | |
| Assistant Secretary of Education for Legislation and Congressional Affairs | |
| In office October 8, 2021 – January 20, 2025 | |
| President | Joe Biden |
| Preceded by | Peter Oppenheim (2019) |
| Succeeded by | TBD |
| Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromFlorida's2nd district | |
| In office January 3, 2015 – January 3, 2017 | |
| Preceded by | Steve Southerland |
| Succeeded by | Neal Dunn (redistricted) |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Gwendolyn Graham (1963-01-31)January 31, 1963 (age 62) Miami Lakes, Florida, U.S. |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouses |
|
| Children | 3 |
| Parent(s) | Bob Graham Adele Khoury |
| Relatives |
|
| Education | |
Gwendolyn Graham (born January 31, 1963) is an American attorney and politician who served as theU.S. representative forFlorida's 2nd congressional district from 2015 to 2017. She is the daughter ofBob Graham, the formerUnited States senator andgovernor of Florida. ADemocrat, she was a candidate in the2018 Democratic primary for Florida governor. Graham served as assistant secretary of education for legislation and congressional affairs in theBiden administration from 2021 to 2025.
Graham was born inMiami Lakes, Florida,[1] toAdele (née Khoury) andBob Graham.[2] She moved toTallahassee in 1978, when her father becameGovernor of Florida.[1] She has Scots-Irish and, from her maternal grandfather, Syrian-Lebanese ancestry.[3][4][5]
Graham is a 1980 graduate ofLeon High School in Tallahassee.[6] She received herbachelor of arts from theUniversity of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1984 and herjuris doctor fromAmerican University'sWashington College of Law in 1988.[7] She joinedDelta Delta Delta while at Chapel Hill.[8]
After law school, Graham worked as an associate at theAndrews & Kurth law firm in Washington, D.C.[9][10]
In 2003, Graham joined her father's2004 presidential campaign. When he dropped out of the race following a heart attack, Graham joinedHoward Dean'spresidential campaign, before ultimately helping coordinateJohn Kerry's unsuccessfulcampaign efforts in Florida.[11][12]
Graham worked forLeon County Schools as an administrator, including as director of employee relations.[13]
In 2013, Graham announced her candidacy against incumbent Republican CongressmanSteve Southerland in 2014.[14] TheDemocratic Congressional Campaign Committee announced they would target the race and provide support to Graham.[15] Graham was one of just two Democrats in the entire country to defeat an incumbent Republican that year, beating Southerland in the November election by more than 2,800 votes.[16]
Prior to her swearing in, Graham said both parties need new leadership in Congress and that she would not vote forNancy Pelosi to be speaker of the House.[17] Graham voted for Rep.Jim Cooper of Tennessee instead.[18] Graham voted for Cooper again when the House voted on the new Speaker afterJohn Boehner announced his resignation.[19]
Graham was ranked as the ninth most bipartisan member of the U.S. House of Representatives during the114th United States Congress in the Bipartisan Index created byThe Lugar Center and theMcCourt School.[20] On a scale of zero to one hundred, Graham scores eight as a lifetime rating by the conservative lobbying organization,American Conservative Union.[21] She also scores a 0 on the 2016Freedom Works ratings, which is associated with the Tea Party movement.[22]
Graham advocated for congressional reforms, including legislation to prohibit members of Congress from using federal funds to pay for first-class airfare[23] and a bill to prevent future government shutdowns.[24]
Graham introduced and passed legislation to helpIsrael develop an anti-tunneling defense system to detect, map, and destroy tunnels between theGaza Strip and Israel.[25] Graham joined Florida Democrats Ted Deutch, Lois Frankel, and Alcee Hastings in opposing theIran nuclear deal.[26][27]
Graham voted repeatedly to defend the Affordable Care Act from repeal and supported fixes to the law.[28] She supports the legalization of medical marijuana and the decriminalization of recreational marijuana in Florida.[29][30] Graham is pro-choice with a 100% ranking from Planned Parenthood and she supports same-sex marriage and LGBT equality, with a 100% ranking from the Human Rights Campaign.[31]
Graham supports comprehensive immigration reform. She voted to protect the DACA program for young immigrants.[32] She supports bipartisan legislation to grant permanent legal status to refugees of the Haiti earthquake.[33] She voted to place more stringent safeguards on refugee vetting.[34]
Graham supports gun control. In Congress, she joined Congressman John Lewis in the sit-in against gun violence. She co-sponsored legislation to strengthen background checks and prevent those on the terrorist watch list from purchasing guns.[35][36]
On the environment, Graham co-sponsored bipartisan legislation with Congressman David Jolly and Senator Bill Nelson to oppose oil drilling off the beaches of Florida.[37] She rallied almost the entire Florida congressional delegation to support the Apalachicola Bay Restoration Act.[38] She has voted for theKeystone XL pipeline, based on studies that showed the pipeline would generate less greenhouse gases than transporting the oil by rail, truck, and barge.[39][40] Graham voted in favor of having theEnvironmental Protection Agency re-examine its Waters of the United States rule with more input from those it would affect.[27] Graham supported Florida counties in their campaigns against fracking in Florida.[41] She used public records to help expose and investigate Governor Rick Scott's response to a massive sinkhole in Central Florida.[42] Graham supports purchasing land south of Lake Okeechobee to restore theEvergladesRiver of Grass.[43]
In 2015, theFlorida Supreme Court ruled that the congressional redistricting plan was a partisangerrymander in violation of the Fair Districts Amendment. The ensuing court-ordered redistricting shifted most of Tallahassee, which had anchored the 2nd district and its predecessors for almost half a century, to the5th district. Most of Graham's black constituents were drawn into the 5th as well. To make up for the loss in population, the 2nd was pushed to the south to take in territory from the heavily Republican3rd and11th districts. Graham now found herself in what was, on paper, one of the most Republican districts in the nation.[44] Had it existed in 2012,Mitt Romney would have won it with 64 percent of the vote, which would have been his third-best total in the state.[45] By comparison, Romney carried the old 2nd in 2012 with 52 percent of the vote.[46]
Had Graham sought a second term in the redrawn 2nd, she would have been running in a district that was far more Republican than its predecessor, even though she would have retained 68 percent of her former territory. Her only other option for representing at least some of her current constituents would have been to run in the Democratic primary for the heavily Democratic, black-majority 5th District against that district's 24-year incumbent,Corrine Brown. Her home in Tallahassee was just outside the boundaries of the 5th district, but members of Congress only have to live in the state they wish to represent. Had Graham run in the 5th, however, she would have been running in a district that would have been more than 67 percent new to her.[44][46]
In aYouTube video emailed to her fundraising list, Graham announced that she would not run for reelection to the House in 2016, denouncing a process that resulted in Tallahassee being split into "two partisan districts". She said that she was considering running forGovernor of Florida in the2018 election.[47]
On May 2, 2017, Graham announced her intention to seek the Democratic Party nomination in the 2018 election to serve as governor of Florida.[48]
Graham's message focused on improving Florida's public schools, protecting the environment, and supporting economic policies counter to those of Governor Rick Scott, such as raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour and implementing required paid sick leave.[49] She pledged toexpand Medicaid in Florida if elected Governor.[50] She criticized Trump after he equated counter-protesters with white nationalists atthe white supremacist rally inCharlottesville, Virginia.[51]
In her campaigns for Congress and Florida's governorship, she is continuing theWorkdays tradition established by her father, where the Grahams spend a shift working alongside Floridians at their jobs. Senator Graham performed 408 Workdays throughout his terms as senator and governor. To date, Congresswoman Graham has performed more than 50.[52]
Graham ultimately lost the nomination to candidateAndrew Gillum, the mayor of Tallahassee.[53] Following her election defeat, she endorsed Gillum for governor.[54]
On April 16, 2021, it was announced that Graham would be nominated to serve as assistant secretary of theUnited States Department of Education for legislation and congressional affairs.[55] On April 22, 2021, her nomination was sent to the Senate.[56] Her nomination was confirmed in theU.S. Senate on October 6, 2021, by voice vote.[57]
Graham lives in Tallahassee.[2] She married Mark Logan in 1985,[58] and they have three children together.[59] While raising her children, Graham worked for 13 years as a self-described "stay-at-home mom."[13] Graham and Logan divorced, and she is now married to Stephen Hurm.[6]
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Gwen Graham | 126,096 | 50.5% | |||
| Republican | Steve Southerland (Incumbent) | 123,262 | 49.3% | |||
| Write-in | Luther Lee | 422 | 0.2% | |||
| Total votes | 249,780 | |||||
| Democraticgain fromRepublican | ||||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Andrew Gillum | 517,417 | 34.3% | |
| Democratic | Gwen Graham | 472,735 | 31.3% | |
| Democratic | Philip Levine | 306,450 | 20.3% | |
| Democratic | Jeff Greene | 151,935 | 10.1% | |
| Democratic | Chris King | 37,464 | 2.5% | |
| Democratic | John Wetherbee | 14,355 | 1.0% | |
| Democratic | Alex "Lundy" Lundmark | 8,628 | 0.6% | |
| Total votes | 1,508,984 | |||
| U.S. House of Representatives | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromFlorida's 2nd congressional district 2015–2017 | Succeeded by |
| Government offices | ||
| Vacant Title last held by Peter Oppenheim2019 | Assistant Secretary of Education for Legislation and Congressional Affairs 2021–2025 | Vacant |
| U.S. order of precedence (ceremonial) | ||
| Preceded byas Former USU.S.Representative | Order of precedence of the United States as Former U.S. Representative | Succeeded byas Former U.S. Representative |
| People | |
|---|---|
| Other | |
