Florida Democratic Party Announces Democratic Gubernatorial Debate Schedule

The Florida Democratic Party announced an official primary-election debate schedule for the four Democratic Gubernatorial candidates: Andrew Gillum, Gwen Graham, Chris King and Philip Levine. In addition to two candidate forums held in 2017 and the televised Tampa debate on April 18th, the four Democratic candidates have agreed to four more debates before the August primary election:

• St. Petersburg, Florida – June 9, 2018
• Miramar, Florida – June 11, 2018
• Fort Myers, Florida – July 18, 2018
• Miami, Florida – August 2, 2018

“Our candidates, and our party is committed to ensuring that all voters have the opportunity to hear real solutions to the issues facing Floridians—from innovation to education, our candidates are talking about how to create a fair economy, a fair public school system, and opportunities for every Floridian to thrive, regardless of the zip code they live in,” said Florida Democratic Party Executive Director Juan Penalosa.

“After over 20 years of failed Republican leadership, Floridians are ready for change – and the Democratic party is offering it. Through this debate process we know voters will see a stark difference between Democrats who are fighting to fully fund public schools, lower healthcare costs and create an economy that works for everyone, and the Republican party that has created an economy in Florida where more than half the state is in recession and nearly half of working families are classified as working poor.”

More details about the upcoming debates will be available in the coming weeks. The announcement of 4 additional debates comes after the Democratic candidates have debated once and participated in two forums over the course of the last 12 months, most recently on April 18, in a televised debate on Fox 13 Tampa, and the forums were held in 2017 at the Florida Democratic Party State Convention and Lead Blue Gala. In contrast, the Republican gubernatorial candidates continue to hide from voters and have only publicly agreed to hold one debate.