{"id":1716,"date":"2026-06-12T09:31:42","date_gmt":"2026-06-12T09:31:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/floridamovingchronicle.com\/?p=1716"},"modified":"2026-06-12T09:31:42","modified_gmt":"2026-06-12T09:31:42","slug":"we-need-somebody-whos-focused-on-us-dotie-joseph-makes-her-play-for-governor-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/floridamovingchronicle.com\/?p=1716","title":{"rendered":"\u2018We need somebody who\u2019s focused on us:\u2019 Dotie Joseph makes her play for governor"},"content":{"rendered":"<article><!-- --><!-- --><!-- WPS-5038 -- removed the script from WPS and added the placeholder for trinity player --><!-- --><!-- --><!-- --><!-- --><!-- --><!-- --><!-- --><!-- CONTENT --><!--[--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>State Rep. <u>Dotie Joseph<\/u> launched a surprise run for governor on Thursday, injecting new life into a Democratic primary that just one day earlier appeared all but wrapped up for former Congressman David Jolly.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/floridamovingchronicle.com\/?p=1715\">A bookstore opened at Aventura Mall two years ago. Now, it has moved<\/a><\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>Joseph\u2019s bid comes a week after <u>Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings<\/u> left the race due to a cancer diagnosis, leaving Jolly as the only established Democrat in the running to succeed term-limited Gov. Ron DeSantis. She said she initially had no intentions to run, but with Demings dropping out, she wanted to give Floridians who are weary of politics as usual another option.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re tired of the culture war, we\u2019re tired of the fear mongering, we\u2019re tired of money being spent on foreign wars,\u201d she said. \u201cWe\u2019re tired. We want to focus on us. We have real issues here.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>Joseph said she wants to focus on making Florida affordable for residents who\u2019ve seen the cost of housing and groceries rise. She added while she respects Jolly\u2019s turnaround from Republican to Democrat, \u201chis record speaks for itself.\u201d And while she respects Republican frontrunner Byron Donalds as a person, she said she does not respect his record<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s not about partisanship, it\u2019s not about Democrat or Republican, it\u2019s about who prioritizes the needs of people,\u201d said Joseph, whose time in the Florida House overlapped with Donalds\u2019.<\/p>\n<p><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>Joseph also criticized the inability of lawmakers to work across the aisle to pass legislation that would help residents rather than focusing on the priorities of special interests.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>\u201cWith the polarization that has happened over the course of the past eight years, that has been increasingly more challenging,\u201d she said. \u201cI think the people feel it, and it shows up in everything.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/floridamovingchronicle.com\/?p=1713\">We have our differences, but we\u2019re beautiful when we come together | Opinion<\/a><\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>Born in Haiti, Joseph came to South Florida when she was a toddler and lives in North Miami, home to a large Haitian-American enclave. A graduate of Yale University and Georgetown University Law Center, Joseph has served as president for the Haitian Lawyers Association.<\/p>\n<p><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>Joseph was first elected to the Florida House in 2018 and served as Minority Leader pro tempore from 2022 to 2024. She represents House District 109, which includes parts of northern Miami-Dade County.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>Joseph has championed legislation that allowed <u>domestic violence survivors<\/u> to collect unemployment in the event they needed to leave a job under threat of an attacker. <b>S<\/b>he also worked on a w<u>ide-ranging police reform bill <\/u>in the wake of Georgia Floyd\u2019s death that included training standards, a minimum age of arrest for children and a duty to intervene if an officer was doing things that they shouldn\u2019t.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>While Joseph\u2019s <u>political<\/u> record has largely been built in the Florida House, she\u2019s also worked in government as a legal intern in the Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division, a law clerk for Superior Court of the District of Columbia Eugene Hamilton and as a deputy city attorney for the city of North Miami Beach.<\/p>\n<p><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>Joseph said she hopes to address affordable housing and livable wages, including increasing Florida state worker pay, if elected.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m just here for us, and we need somebody who\u2019s focused on us,\u201d she said. \u201cI\u2019m here to make an impact, and to the extent that the voters are willing to give me a shot at fighting for them.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/floridamovingchronicle.com\/?p=1711\">David Jolly introduces running mate to Miami, sits down with the Miami Herald<\/a><\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--]--><!-- --><!-- --><!-- --><!-- --><\/article>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Dotie Joseph, who has spent much of her political career in the Florida House, is running for governor a week after Jerry Demings dropped out of the race.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1705,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1716","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-florida-politics"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.5 - 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