Issue #171: The Election Success of Bob Graham
The Great Graham Cracker
On Tuesday, former Florida Governor and US Senator Bob Graham passed away. His passing resulted in a wave of condolences and fond memories about one of Florida’s most beloved elected officials. Elected Governor in 1978 and to the Senate in 1986, Graham sits with a small crowd of politicians that truly shaped the state and hold near-universal acclaim to this day.
In honor of his legacy, I wanted to offer a look into Bob Graham’s electoral success in Florida; highlighting why he is so fondly remembered to this day.
Family Legacy and Legislative Start
Robert “Bob” Graham was born in 1936 and grew up in Dade County Florida. At the time, Dade was very different from the massive urban center it is today, still had a large rural and farming ecosystem. Bob’s father, Ernest Graham, was a state legislator himself, serving in the State Senate from 1937 to 1944.
Ernest was born and raised in Michigan, but came to Florida in the late 1920s as an employee of the Pennsylvania Sugar Company, which was involved in the Everglades draining process that would go on through much of the early 20th century. However, the company did not stay in the state, though Ernest did, taking a plot of land as severance. This land in Dade county became one of the biggest dairy farms in the state. While in the legislature, Ernest made repealing the poll tax a major policy goal, working with other lawmakers for its successful repeal in his first year. Largely viewed as a progressive for the time, Ernest favored pensions and the creation of a public university for Dade County. The family was also heavily involved in the planning of what is now the city of Miami Lakes. In 1944, Ernest ran for Governor, but did not succeed in the Democratic primary.
These were the shoes that Bob Graham sought to fill when he ran for state house in 1966. That year, he ran for Dade’s Group 16 seat; back when all these seats were county-wide, multi-member districts. In the primary he secured 56%, avoiding any runoff needed, with his closest opponent at just 14%. In the general he’d take 66% of the vote. In 1970, he would run for the 48th State Senate district, also countywide. In that contest he faced no primary and easily won the general with 69% of the vote. Then, the 1972 redistricting process finally brought in single-member state senate districts. Graham would win, unopposed, Senate District 33, which covered parts of Dade and Broward Counties.
Graham’s time in the legislature was as active and reform-minded as his father’s had been. Graham would spend time in the house working on issues around environmental protection, something very important to the family. Unlike many of the major agrobusinesses today, the ranching and farming background of the Graham family instilled a belief in good environmental stewardship.
In line with this, Graham was a major backer of Amendment 4 in 1970. This amendment was in the weeds but very important, as it set up a strong funding mechanism for local jurisdictions to fund efforts to mitigate pollution. Graham cared about this issue so much that he and other backers former a campaign committee to push the measure over the finish line in 1970.
The measure would easily pass, only losing in the more rural, conservative counties were voters worried about the dreaded “increased taxes,” while securing massive margins along the east coast.
Graham would always be counted as part of the pro-Environmentalist slate of lawmakers in the legislature.
The Workdays
Bob Graham’s biggest claim to fame, however, was his “Workdays.” From his time in the state senate and onward, Graham was known for spending a day working a different job in the state of Florida. The tradition started in 1974 when he was in the state senate on the Education committee and a teacher, Sue Riley, pointed out none of the members had ever been in education. Graham worked with Riley to come teach classes at Carol City High School in Miami Lakes.
The idea of the workdays would go on for decades, with Graham serving countless jobs. A gallery of his many jobs can be seen here.
The workdays endeared Graham to millions of Floridians. Graham was the son of a millionaire family, had gone to Harvard, and lived in rapidly urbanizing Dade County. The workdays, and Graham’s earnest zeal in doing them, led to Floridians believing, rightfully so, that he understood and cared about them.
Florida Governor Campaigns
In 1977, Graham decided to make a run for Florida Governor, like his father had done 40 years before. To boost his name ID, he used his workdays at a fever pitch. Pledging to do 100 work days over the court of the campaign in all corners of the state. This was compared to Senator Lawton Chile’s famous 1,000 mile walk across Florida in 1970; which helped propel him to the US Senate and gave him the nickname ‘Walkin Lawton.’
In the primary contest, the frontrunner was Attorney General Robert Shevin, who likewise hailed from Dade County. Included in this crowded race were Jacksonville Mayor Hans Tanzer, Lt Governor Jim Williams, former Secretary of State Bruce Smathers, and former Republican Governor Claude Kirk (who’d changed parties).
In the primary, the goal for Graham was to secure a strong 2nd place and advance to a runoff; with everyone expecting Shevin’s stronger statewide organization to secure a 1st place slot. Graham selected Conservative North Florida Democrat Wayne Mixson of Jackson County as his running mate. Despite very different biographies, both Mixson and Graham were able to portray themselves as down-to-earth officials. Their supports were dubbed “Graham Crackers” - an ode to the old “Florida Cracker” population.
The strategy worked well, with Graham securing 25% in the first round and Shevin at a weaker-than-expected 35%. The runoff just a couple weeks later saw Graham surge past Shevin to win the primary by 7 points.
For the Graham ticket, the key was winning big in the lower-populated rural and working class counties, but also not letting Shevin dominate in the cities he was strongest in. Shevin ate up much of Graham’s own Dade base, but Graham made up for it across the rest of the state and overtaking the AG around cities like Tampa and Jacksonville.
In the general election, Graham was able to easily best Jack Eckerd, a prominent businessman known best for the Eckerd pharmacy chain. Eckerd had made several runs for office in the past, coming close in the 1974 US Senate contest.
While Eckerd had strong support in the Republican business community, Graham was able to improve with rural voters that had moved against Governor Askew in the early 1970s. It was a solid win that continued Democratic dominance in the Governor’s mansion at that point.
Graham’s first term as governor would see him continue Governor Askew’s goal to modernize the state as it rapidly grew in population. He launched major environmental projects and worked to increase education and social services funding. In his first term, he’d become friends with legendary single-songwriter Jimmy Buffett.
The two would team up to push environmental issues in Florida, creating the “Save the Manatee Club.”
I actually wrote about Buffett’s ties to Florida politics when he passed away last year.
Heading into 1982, Graham was in a strong position to win re-election. He faced Palm Beach Congressman Skip Bafalis and won a commanding 65% of the vote.
The same day Graham won re-election, only losing the most hardened GOP counties on the Southwest coast, Lawton Chiles was re-elected as Senator. This was the only time both men were on the same statewide ballot, though both are often discussed hand-in-hand as the glory days of Florida Democrats. Chiles would also easily secure his own re-election that day.
Campaigns for the US Senate
In 1986, with his Governorship coming to an end, but holding an approval rating in the 80s, Graham decided to run for US Senate. He challenged incumbent Republican Paula Hawkins, who’d won the 1980 contest amid the Regan Revolution that saw 12 Republican Senate pickups. Hawkins was considered vulnerable and flipping Florida was a key part of Democratic efforts to take back the US Senate.
Through the 1986 campaign, Hawkins was considered at a disadvantage. The 1986 midterms would be strong for Democrats and Graham was very popular. The predicted Graham win came to pass, with him taking 55% of the vote. Hawkins was gracious in defeat, admitting she expected the outcome.
Graham’s win saw Democratic strength increasing except in the North Florida panhandle, where 1980 nominee Bill Gunter hailed from.
Once in the Senate, Graham would remain highly popular. In 1992, the same day George Bush won the state for President, Graham secured a 30 point re-election landslide. Graham’s opponent was former Congressman Bill Grant, who’d been elected to the panhandle-based 2nd in 1986 as a Democrat but then switched parties in 1989 before losing re-election in 1990.
Grant’s campaign never got off the ground and Graham remained nearly untouchable in the state.
In 1998, Graham again found himself heavily favored for re-election. Despite Jeb Bush winning the Governorship the same day, Graham defeated State Senator Charlie Crist by 25 points.
We would never hear about that Charlie Crist character ever again.
Both the 1992 and 1998 wins highlighted the popularity of Graham, as well as an era of the state where ticket splitting was much more common.
Final Years of Service
Through his time as a Senator, Graham was seen as a short-list contender for VP multiple times. In 2003, he would announce a run for President himself. Despite being one of the Democratic Senators to vote against authorizing the use of force in Iraq, Graham was overlooked by the anti-war crowd in favor of candidates like Howard Dean. Graham was also hurt by health complications, including heart surgery that year. He would opt to drop out in October. While he could have run for re-election to the Senate in 2004, his health led him to decide on retiring.
For the next 20 years, Graham would continue to be involved in public service. He would become a fellow at the Institute of Politics at Harvard; where he and his wife lived and taught among the undergraduates. He’d founded the Bob Graham Center for Public Service, which is housed at the University of Florida. He would continue to stay involved in politics, supporting his daughter, Gwen Graham, when she ran for and won a Congressional district in 2014.
Grahams passing marks the true end to an era of Florida politics. For Democrats like myself, this was the golden age of the state. Before the dark times……..
I can think of no more fitting image than this Bill Day memorial cartoon featuring the reunion of Graham, Chiles, and Buffett.
We will never have it so good again.