Latest / THE DAILY BRIEF / Midterm elections are 'as much about 2028' as they are about 2026 FL Gov. Candidate Jolly

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Midterm elections are 'as much about 2028' as they are about 2026 FL Gov. Candidate Jolly · THE DAILY BRIEF

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  Speaker 1: With that, let's start this conversation with Florida's Democratic candidate
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  Speaker 1: for Governor David Jolly. He's a former Republican congressman and
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  Speaker 1: a former MSNOW contributor.
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  Speaker 2: That is why you know him so well. And I do, too. David,
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  Speaker 2: welcome back. You're a very busy guy.
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  Speaker 1: And you've got 28.
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  Speaker 2: Days to go.
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  Speaker 1: You recently said that if the election were held tonight,
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  Speaker 1: you would win.
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  Speaker 2: Why?
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  Speaker 3: Because voters across the country and across Florida are doing
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  Speaker 3: something we haven't seen in a long time. Steph, I
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  Speaker 3: think this is like a 1974 post Watergate moment when
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  Speaker 3: voters are saying, burn the ships, forget about party registration.
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  Speaker 3: We've got to go in a new direction. Sure, it's
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  Speaker 3: the grips of an economy that's leaving half of our state,
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  Speaker 3: half of our country behind. It's the outright corruption that
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  Speaker 3: we're watching. And it is we're listening to leaders who
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  Speaker 3: tell us, frankly, if we just hate each other a
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  Speaker 3: little bit longer and a little bit more, that somehow
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  Speaker 3: our lives will get better. And so voters are saying
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  Speaker 3: we've got to do something differently. And you know, in
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  Speaker 3: your intro there, you made it sound so easy, right?
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  Speaker 3: A 13-point red state where we've been out raised eight
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  Speaker 3: to one. But let me tell you what's already happened
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  Speaker 3: in Florida. It's not a 13-point state anymore. Our congressional
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  Speaker 3: specials have swung by 15 and 16 points. State legislative
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  Speaker 3: races by 20, 25 points. The city of Miami elected
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  Speaker 3: a mayor for the first time in 30 years. It
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  Speaker 3: was 19 points. Mar-a-Lago elected a Democratic state representative. You see,
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  Speaker 3: in Florida, change is already here. And I think that's
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  Speaker 3: why we're seeing in virtually... Every poll out there, ours, Byron's,
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  Speaker 3: and third parties, this race is now either a toss-up
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  Speaker 3: or we're up a little bit. I think if the
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  Speaker 3: election were tonight, not only would Florida's voters elect a
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  Speaker 3: Democratic governor, but voters across the country would elect a
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  Speaker 3: lot of new Democrats.
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  Speaker 1: But then what's going to change in the next 28 days?
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  Speaker 2: What's the risk? Is this about money?
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  Speaker 1: Because Donald's has raised eight times what you have in
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  Speaker 1: large part because of those Mar-a-Lago dollars, those New York
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  Speaker 1: transplants that are writing huge checks. But also the Democratic
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  Speaker 1: Governors Association has mostly stayed out of Florida and you
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  Speaker 1: could use that money.
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  Speaker 2: What's going on?
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, look, the DGA has a lot of races they
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  Speaker 3: have to attend to. They've got hard decisions to make.
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  Speaker 3: I will tell you, whether it's the DGA or other
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  Speaker 3: national donors, frankly, if we bleed out in October and
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  Speaker 3: we lose the race because of money, we will have
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  Speaker 3: lost a historic opportunity. to restructure our politics. You see,
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  Speaker 3: this race in 26 is as much about 28. Winning
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  Speaker 3: the Florida governorship restructures the road to the White House.
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  Speaker 2: It allows us to look at.
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  Speaker 3: The next redistricting as Democrats who can claw back seats
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  Speaker 3: and reshape a House majority. But what do I worry
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  Speaker 3: about in October? Sure, money matters, but understand Byron has
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  Speaker 3: spent $ 100 million and he's losing today. You see, there
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  Speaker 3: are some candidates that the more you get to know them,
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  Speaker 3: the worse they do. That's Byron's problem. He's known as
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  Speaker 3: Donald Trump's person.
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  Speaker 2: That's it.
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  Speaker 3: He called Donald Trump his daddy, gave him an A
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  Speaker 3: on the economy. That's his singular ID. But here's what
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  Speaker 3: Byron Donalds and others are going to do. They're trying
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  Speaker 3: to make this race about ideology, about socialism, communism, radicalism,
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  Speaker 3: trans rights, because they have to make it about division
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  Speaker 3: instead of what I'm focused on, housing, health care, education,
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  Speaker 3: and no data centers.
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  Speaker 2: That's it.
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  Speaker 3: In the midst of an economic crisis, the three pillars
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  Speaker 3: in people's lives are Our housing, can I afford a house,
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  Speaker 3: stay in my house, afford my rent in the community
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  Speaker 3: in which I work? Where does my family get health care?
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  Speaker 3: And in a state like Florida that abandoned public education,
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  Speaker 3: am I getting charged tuition on top of a state
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  Speaker 3: voucher to send my kid to a choice school? I
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  Speaker 3: need this race to be about housing, health care, and education.
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  Speaker 3: That's where my message needs to be and where my
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  Speaker 3: money needs to go. Byron's going to use the money
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  Speaker 3: on ideology and using fear to stop progress. That's where
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  Speaker 3: the real delta in money could hurt us. Then why
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  Speaker 3: not debate him? You sound like you're ready. You know,
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  Speaker 3: there's a lot of bad faith and dishonesty in politics.
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  Speaker 3: All of Byron's ads have been rated false. Here's why, though, Steph. And,
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  Speaker 3: you know, some people call me soft for this. We
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  Speaker 3: had accepted debates. Byron tried to body check us with
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  Speaker 3: different debates. Fine, chalk all that up to politics. I
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  Speaker 3: really am trying to elevate our politics to something better.
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  Speaker 3: In a world of Donald Trump, I'm trying to be
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  Speaker 3: Ted Lasso. And you can call that weak. You can
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  Speaker 3: call that naive. But the reality is this. I want
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  Speaker 3: to lead with my actions what I'm saying with my words.
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  Speaker 3: I want to elevate our politics to something better. If
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  Speaker 3: I platform debates where it all comes down to the
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  Speaker 3: vitriol and the division and the ugliness and the rancor, frankly,
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  Speaker 3: our 7-year-old and 5-year-old are going to look at me
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  Speaker 3: and say, Dad, what did you contribute in this moment?
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  Speaker 3: And I don't want them to see a dad that
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  Speaker 3: just says division is okay, anger is okay. I want
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  Speaker 3: to elevate our politics, and I don't think debates do
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  Speaker 3: that for us right now. Sure, I had accepted debates
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  Speaker 3: and initially was going to do them, but it became
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  Speaker 3: clear that it was not something that was going to
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  Speaker 3: improve our politics, so I've said no to any general
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  Speaker 3: election debates.
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  Speaker 2: Nobody wins with hate.
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  Speaker 1: You are sharing the ticket with progressive Senate candidate Angie Nixon.
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  Speaker 1: Republicans are slamming her in any way that they possibly can,
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  Speaker 1: calling her a socialist.
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  Speaker 2: How is this impacting your election?
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  Speaker 3: You know, Angie is a warrior and a fighter who
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  Speaker 3: for 18 months has been in every room I was
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  Speaker 3: in talking about housing, health care and education.
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  Speaker 2: I never saw her.
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  Speaker 3: Litigate socialism or DSA or even Israel. She's talking about
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  Speaker 3: improving the economy for people. Can you afford your grocery
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  Speaker 3: bill and your gas? When the president launches a war
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  Speaker 3: of choice and you're paying the cost at the pump,
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  Speaker 3: Angie's saying, hey, I think that's wrong. When we're seeing
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  Speaker 3: homeowners lose their homes because of an insurance market that's collapsing,
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  Speaker 3: Angie's saying, hey, I'm going to fight for you. Or
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  Speaker 3: if your child needs a good education, I'm going to
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  Speaker 3: be there for you. That's in stark contrast to Ashley Moody,
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  Speaker 3: who is backing up Donald Trump with every decision that
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  Speaker 3: he makes. And so I have seen a warrior in
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  Speaker 3: Angie Nixon. I'm not surprised that she won the nomination,
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  Speaker 3: nor that she's doing as well as she is in
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  Speaker 3: this race. Where we agree, we're going to make sure
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  Speaker 3: we're working together. And where we disagree, we acknowledge it.
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  Speaker 3: We're actually being honest with voters. David Jolly condemns socialism.
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  Speaker 3: I condemn the DSA. I don't think it represents our
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  Speaker 3: party or the country. And that is those are my politics.
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  Speaker 3: And I'm sharing that message as I run to focus
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  Speaker 3: on housing, health care and education, just as Angie is.
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  Speaker 2: Hating more helps no one. David Jolly, I have not
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  Speaker 2: seen you in ages. It is great to see you.
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  Speaker 2: You've got 28 days to go.
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  Speaker 1: Rest up, stay hydrated, and thank you for joining us.
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  Speaker 2: Hey, it's Rachel.
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  Speaker 2: Thanks.