Gwen Graham won’t run for her old congressional seat

Former U.S. Rep. Gwen Graham will not try to regain her seat in Congress.

The Tallahassee Democrat announced she will sit out the race to replace retiring U.S. Rep. Neal Dunn in Florida’s 2nd Congressional District.

“After much consideration, I will not be running for Florida’s CD2. For family reasons, now is not the right time for me to mount a campaign. Family must always come first. I am grateful for the encouragement and remain as committed as ever to public service,” she posted on X.

Graham, the daughter of late Gov. and U.S. Sen. Bob Graham, won her seat in Congress in 2014 in one of the biggest upsets in the country. She unseated Republican U.S. Rep. Steve Southerland, despite strong headwinds for Republicans two years after Democratic President Barack Obama’s re-election two years prior.

But a redistricting ruling by the Florida Supreme Court derailed her path to re-election. After Florida’s 2nd Congressional district was redrawn with a far more Republican electorate, Graham opted not to seek re-election and instead focused on a run for Governor.

While she was considered the front-runner for the Democratic nomination for much of the 2018 Governor race, she ultimately lost in the Primary to Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum, who went on to lose by a recount margin to Republican Ron DeSantis.

Dunn, a Panama City Republican, ended up winning Graham’s congressional seat in 2016. After lines were redrawn again after the decennial redistricting process, he won an incumbent-on-incumbent battle in 2022 against U.S. Rep. Al Lawson, a Tallahassee Democrat.

That cycle, Dunn took 60% of the vote and confirmed the district’s Republican hold on the Big Bend seat, even though the district had reverted more closely to the region Graham had represented in the past. He won re-election in 2024 against Democrat Yen Bailey with almost 62% of the vote.

The district may change again this year, as Gov. Ron DeSantis has called a Special Session on congressional redistricting ahead of the 2026 Midterms.

Graham was considered a top recruit for the open seat following Dunn’s retirement announcement.

Bailey, Amanda Green and Nick Zateslo have all filed for the seat this cycle as Democrats.