Governor hopeful Gwen Graham holds 'workday' at Pensacola International Airport

Former U.S. Rep. Gwen Graham spent the day in Pensacola on Tuesday for a "workday" at the USO in the Pensacola International Airport as part of her campaign for the Democratic nomination for governor of Florida.

Graham said she has held 55 workdays across the state since announcing she was running for governor last May.

Graham spent the day volunteering at the USO, putting together care packages for service members passing through the terminal, talking with service members and other volunteers at the USO and helping out at the information desk.

"If you would like to know where to eat at the Pensacola Airport, you can ask me," Graham said. "I know all about it."

Graham's father, former Gov. Bob Graham, became known for holding "workdays" during his time in the Florida Legislature in the 1970s where he worked full days, side by side ordinary Floridians in jobs.

Graham said when she began her campaign she was advised not to do things her father did — obsessive note-taking and workdays.

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"I disagreed with that advice because as a daughter, I watched my father become more well-informed, more empathetic, more understanding of not just the job you're doing for the day, but you build such great friendships," Graham said.

Graham said building friendships was key to her single term in the U.S. House of Representatives from 2015 to 2017 before her district was redrawn after a Florida Supreme Court ruling making it one of the most Republican in the state.

Graham said the polarization in politics is a shame and creates too much division.

"If you sit in an echo chamber and only listen to people that agree with you, then you never have an opportunity to broaden your thought process, and to take in other considerations," Graham said.

She said that bringing bi-partisanship to politics is one of the reasons she ran in 2014.

"What I could bring is someone that actually cares about and loves people," Graham said. "And wants to find a way to bring people who are often not even willing to talk to one another, but bring them together in an environment where people feel that their points of view are respected and that they're being listened to — truly listened to."

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Gun control has been a divisive issue in modern politics and after the mass shooting in Parkland, the attention of the entire country was the Florida Legislature as they passed a law raising the age to buy a rifle to 21.

"This cannot, nor should it ever be, a debate between the Second Amendment and common sense gun safety legislation," Graham said. "That's not an either-or discussion that should be had. My commitment is to put in place common sense gun safety. Not taking people's guns away from law-abiding citizens, but putting in place gun safety such as comprehensive background checks."

Graham is one of four Democratic candidates raising large amounts of money to win the governor's office in November.

Graham raised more than $600,000 in March with $6.4 million raised between her campaign and political committees, trailing former Miami Beach Mayor Philip Levine in total fundraising.

Along with Levine, Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum and Orlando businessman Chris King are also raising money and campaigning throughout the state.

Graham said the focus on fundraising in political campaigns, and Florida's system that allows candidates to form political committees to raise money without saying which office they're running for, hurts voters.

"It's just a game that's being played that's not in the best interest of Floridians because they deserve to know I'm opening this political committee because I'm running for governor," Graham said. "…I'm a big believer in honesty and being straight forward, and I don't think the system we have in place right now is being honest with the voters."

Graham's key philosophy to politics is building friendships. During her time in Congress, Graham said she found other members didn't even know each others' names sometimes, so she made it a point to memorize the name of every representative, which led to introductions, conversations and eventually successful passage of legislation.

"At the end of the day, we're all human beings on this planet, and it is so much better to care about one another and to want the best for one another," Graham said. "And I'm not saying that you have to politically agree with one another. That's not it at all. I actually think it even means more when you're good friends with someone that you don't agree with."