In 2014 Democrat Gwendolyn (Gwen) Graham unseated
Florida Republican Steven Southerland for a seat in the
United States House of Representatives from northwest
Florida. Growing up, she saw her father, Democratic
Florida Governor and United States Senator Daniel Robert
(Bob) Graham, build personal relationships with voters
and prioritize his work in Congress for the people of his
state. Gwen Graham was determined to do the same in the
House. Although redistricting limited her congressional
career to one term, Graham spent her time on Capitol Hill
working on behalf of constituents along the Gulf Coast.
With her victory, Graham became the thirteenth woman in
U.S. history to follow her father into Congress.
Gwendolyn Graham was born in Miami Lakes, Florida,
on January 31, 1963.1
Her mother, Adele Khoury, began her
career as a public school teacher in Massachusetts and later
spent 25 years as a school volunteer.2
In 1979 her father, then
a Florida state senator, won election as governor, and Gwen
Graham and her three younger sisters moved to Tallahassee
to live in the governor’s mansion with their parents. In 1986
Bob Graham won election to the United States Senate.3
Graham graduated from Leon High School in
Tallahassee in 1980.4
She earned a BA in political science from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in
1984 and married Mark Logan in 1985.5
After earning
a JD from American University in Washington, DC, in
1988, Graham worked in a law firm focusing on energy
and environmental issues.6
In 1990 with the birth of her
first child, Sarah, Graham temporarily stopped practicing
law and worked from her home in Florida. She later
had two sons: Graham and Mark. Her marriage ended
in divorce.7
Graham jumped into politics in 2003 when her father
announced his candidacy for President after serving for
16 years in the U.S. Senate. She worked for her father’s
campaign and resumed her law practice. After her father
withdrew from the race in the fall, Graham became Florida’s
national campaign liaison for Senator John Forbes Kerry’s
presidential team. Graham initially floated the idea of
running for Congress in 2006, but she did not immediately
seek public office.8
Instead, she accepted an offer from the
Leon County school district to work as director of employee
relations. She later became the director for professional
standards and chief of labor and employee relations in the
county school system.9
In 2010 Graham married Steven
Hurm, a Florida law enforcement officer.10
In 2013 Graham announced her candidacy for
the U.S. House against Republican incumbent Steve
Southerland. Southerland had won election in 2010 and
entered Congress as a Member of the new Republican
majority.11 Because Southerland had won re-election
comfortably in 2012, and because Willard Mitt Romney,
the Republican presidential nominee, carried the district
that year, Democrats in the district faced long odds heading
into the 2014 midterms. But Graham was confident she
could successfully appeal to the politically diverse district by
connecting with its constituents.12
Graham met many voters and learned the needs of the
Second District through a practice she borrowed from her
father called a “Graham Workday.” During these events,
Graham assisted local businesses, schools, and farms
with their daily tasks. She spent some of her days on the
campaign trail cleaning goat stalls, sweeping barber shop
floors, and riding alongside police officers.13
Graham’s critics accused her of taking advantage of her
father’s reputation and doubted she could build one of
her own. Graham saw this criticism as a comment on her
gender. “I don’t think if my father had had a son that there
would have been that hesitation to make sure that I had
all the skill sets before I offered myself for office,” Graham
said.14 As she had noted at the start of her campaign, “I love
my dad and I’m very proud of him, but I am running this
campaign as Gwen Graham.”15
Both Graham and Southerland ran unopposed in their
party primaries.16 As the general election drew near, Graham
raised more money than Southerland and newspapers
nationwide reported neck-and-neck poll numbers. With
the race tightening, the Washington Post named Southerland
one of the “10 Most Endangered House Members” just
a month before the election.17 On Election Day, Graham
beat Southerland by 2,470 votes—less than one percentage
point. She was one of two Democrats to defeat Republican
incumbents that year.18
When Graham arrived in Washington, she and three
other Democrats voted against Democratic Leader
Nancy Pelosi of California to head the party for another
Congress.19 It was a message to her district that she
would vote independently in the House. On the policy
side, Graham won powerful committee assignments
that directly benefited her district. On the Agriculture
Committee, she focused on her district’s many farms and
cosponsored legislation to protect Florida’s crops from insects. With her other appointment to the Armed Services
Committee, she worked to create recovery programs for
injured veterans.20 While Graham voted with her party
on legislation regarding women’s rights and immigrant
protection, she occasionally sided with Republicans on
foreign affairs and environmental policy.21
Graham continued her "Workdays" on her visits back to the district, which often corresponded with bills
she introduced. After a day spent packing, serving, and
delivering meals to elderly constituents, she introduced
the Senior Citizen Protection Act of 2016, which
proposed creating a registry of businesses and individuals
that committed fraud against seniors.22 After a another
“Workday” at a textile factory, Graham reintroduced a bill
her Republican predecessor had first submitted called the
Northwest Florida Jobs Certainty Act, which amended trade
regulations on fabric.23
Heading into the 115th Congress (2017–2019), Florida
redrew its congressional districts. Graham’s new seat leaned
more Republican than her former constituency, and rather
than seek re-election, Graham retired from the House at
the end of her term.24 In May 2017, Graham announced
her candidacy for governor of Florida but lost the
Democratic primary.25
View Record in the Biographical Directory of the U.S. Congress
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