Andrew Gillum, the 38-year-old mayor of Tallahassee, has already served in elective politics for 15 years. He's attempting to take a major step up to governor, asking Democratic voters for the party's nomination in the Aug. 28 primary. He spoke with The News-Journal for a Florida Political Profile podcast during a campaign stop at Bethune-Cookman University on March 26, and this is an abbreviated version of the 27-minute conversation. (Scroll down to hear the full interview.)
Q: I read that you were born in Miami, raised in Gainesville. Tell me about your parents and your growing-up days.
Gillum: You’re correct. My mother ... was a school bus driver for the Miami-Dade school system. My daddy was a construction worker, and when there was no construction work to be done, you might find him on the street corner, selling fruits or vegetables or on Saturday mornings across from the cemetery selling flowers. My mother, when summer school was done away with here in Florida, she became a presser in a dry-cleaners. I’m one of seven kids, all boys, one girl, my baby sister. I’m No. 5 of the seven. And the first to graduate high school, of my siblings the first to graduate college.
Q: At Florida A&M, did you study politics, political science? Was there anything in college maybe you were involved with that might surprise people now?
Gillum: I was president of the Student Government Association of FAMU and served on the Board of Trustees. ... And I guess if there was something interesting that people wouldn’t know is I flirted very briefly trying to do drama, which I have now come to learn I’m not very good at. But certainly thought it was a cool thing to do then.
Q: Can you point to an example of something you’ve accomplished as Tallahassee mayor that might give some sense of how you might approach being governor?
Gillum: We have broken ground on a 120-acre solar farm, tripling the amount of solar energy that we produce, because I believe that the challenge of the future is going to be how we get more innovative in this state, but also in my community around the future of energy, and, quite frankly, what that means for innovation and the role we can play there. ... My city is the fastest-growing economy in the state per capita, the 17th fastest growing in the country per capita.
Q: If I’m a voter and I’m looking at the Democratic candidates and I like you and I want to support you, I still have to be concerned about this FBI investigation into City Hall in Tallahassee. It’s obviously ongoing ... what’s your explanation for this situation and why should Democratic voters get behind you?
Gillum: It appears to be an investigation into an individual elected official who happens to serve in the government. ... Of all the subpoenas that have come out, not one of them mentions me. Not a business I’m associated with. Not an enterprise I’m associated with — at all. And over the course of this entire investigation, there has been no connection to me and any illegal activity. But more than that, aside from those facts, I would urge voters to look at the other set of facts, which is that for 15 years, I have served my community with nothing but honor and dignity. ... They’ll never have to worry about me in that regard, and it’s because I got into this line of work, this service, for the right reason. And that’s to try to make my community better.
Q: You’ve got at least three Democratic opponents who are in contention. I wonder if you could size up your opponents and tell me why you feel you’re a better candidate?
Gillum: Chris King ... doesn’t have a public-policy record of achievement, but I think he’s a nice person. As it relates to Phil Levine ... I think he’s sort of going out, describing himself as a businessman. ... I think voters will tell you that’s probably what they got in Rick Scott. ... I’m not certain that is a recipe for moving the state of Florida forward. ... In Gwen Graham’s case, ... I think she is a fine person and represents her family in a fine manner. ... While in Congress, she voted for the Keystone Pipeline. I disagree with that. She voted for the Syrian refugee ban, one of a few Democrats who did that. She voted to repeal Dodd-Frank, an important consumer protection. She voted to weaken Obamacare. ... I don’t think that is a record deserving of being our party’s nominee. ... I think what we need, more than anything, as the only non-millionaire in this race for governor, is a candidate who reflects what is the real and lived experience of people in this state, and I know what that means. I know what it means to watch my parents trade between which bills they can pay before something gets cut off. I’ve seen what it felt like to be at the mercy of free health care in order to get my teeth cleaned. ... I understand what that means not because I’ve read it, but because I’ve lived it.