The decision to endorse Graham came Thursday morning after a series of calls between the two camps. | AP Photo Murphy won't run for governor, plans Graham endorsement

MIAMI — Former congressman and 2016 Senate candidate Patrick Murphy has decided not to join the crowded Democratic race for governor and instead will swing his support to Gwen Graham, with whom he served in the last Congress, sources tell POLITICO.

For the past month, Murphy has talked to donors and consultants and looked at polling in the race — and discussed the unorthodox concept of running on a bipartisan ticket with a Republican, former Rep. David Jolly — but he ultimately decided that the time and money weren’t right for him and that Graham would be the best Democrat to win office and lead the state as the first woman governor in Florida’s history.


“Ultimately, friendship matters. I consider her a friend. She and her family were there for me when I ran for Senate and I want to be there for her,” Murphy told POLITICO, which first reported his endorsement.

“After serving with Gwen in Congress, after seeing her solve problems and knowing we agree on a lot more than we disagree on — we want to stop the gun violence in our state, expand health care, protect the environment — I know she’ll make the best governor for the state of Florida,” Murphy said.

Graham welcomed his support, which comes right before two primary debates within the next week.

“I was proud to support him in his campaign against Marco Rubio and, as governor, I will work with Patrick to restore our promise to public schools, protect our environment and build an economy that works for every Floridian,” she said.

The two appeared together at 2 p.m. at an event in Pembroke Pines hours after agreeing on the endorsement.

The decision to endorse Graham came Thursday morning after a series of calls between the two camps and a game of “phone tag” between Murphy and Graham. After a lengthy phone call Thursday morning, Graham told Murphy that she understood the decision was his, but she would love his endorsement if he decided not to run.

“These two are friends,” said a source. “And this is what friends do. It’s huge.”

Jolly is also a friend of both Murphy and Graham and served in the same Congress, in 2015 and 2016. Graham briefly entertained picking either as a potential running mate but backed off.

"Gwen would love to have the support of both," said a source close to her.

Jolly said the day’s announcement should be reserved for Graham and Murphy.

Jolly, however, is less certain to endorse. Not only would the support of a Republican potentially be problematic for Graham in a Democratic primary, the bipartisan Republican was displeased with the way his friend’s campaign struck such a partisan tone when it walked back the idea that she would like Jolly as a running mate.

Graham, once the front-runner in the race, has begun trailing former Miami Beach Mayor Philip Levine, who has spent more than $12 million on television advertising. Graham has begun a limited ad campaign in Orlando and Tampa, spending $1.1 million this week. Orlando businessman Chris King has spent at least $2 million on television. And Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum, who has struggled with fundraising, has yet to spend any money on television.

Against this backdrop, Palm Beach billionaire Jeff Greene on Friday filed to run in the Democratic primary. He spent $24 million of his own money in 2010 on a failed Senate bid.

The twin prospects of both Greene and Murphy running made the calculus in the race completely unpredictable.

Polls taken by both Murphy and Graham showed Levine winning, albeit not by a comfortable margin. A significant portion of the electorate remains undecided ahead of the Aug. 28 primary.

Murphy said at one point, “millions” had been committed to a potential bid. And an initial poll showed the bipartisan team would do well. But the money was good, not great. Same with the polling. And in talking personally with Graham as well as through intermediaries, the math and the desire to run in a wild primary just wasn’t there for a Murphy-Jolly ticket.

“It’s very late. They wanted to do this differently,” said a source who spoke to both men. “Although they were getting financial support and encouragement to do this, the amount of time and effort to put together a race in Florida to do that — especially in a way to that has never been done before — is difficult to do especially in 80 days. ... And they think Gwen should be governor.”

“It was a short time to decide whether to do this. And when I put everything together, the timing wasn’t right,” Murphy said. “At the end of the day, my heart wasn’t in this. And Gwen’s is.”