Dwyane Wade Says He’s Been Approached by Florida Democrats About Running for Office
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The former Miami Heat point guard is rumored to have caught the attention of prominent Democrats, who are looking for someone to challenge far-right Florida Sen. Rick Scott in 2024
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Dwyane WadePolitics could be written in the stars for Dwyane Wade.
Three months after reports surfaced that Florida Democrats were eyeing NBA legends Wade, 41, and Grant Hill, 50, as possible candidates for a U.S. Senate run in 2024, the former Miami Heat point guard has shared his reaction to the news.
When asked by The New York Times about the reports — which circled in May after an NBC News story reported that both of the former basketball players had been named by Democratic donor groups — Wade said he “heard” about the discussions.
Related: NBA Legends Dwyane Wade and Grant Hill 'Dream' Democrat Picks to Run Against Sen. Rick Scott
He then confirmed that he has been approached about running for political office — but laughed off any questioning about whether he would actually consider launching a campaign.
“I mean, it’s just conversation,” Wade said. “‘Hey, you would be good for,’ ‘Hey, we can see you in,’ ‘We would love to have you in.’”
He continued, “It’s things that I’m passionate about that I will speak out on and speak up for. And so I don’t play the politician games. I don’t know a lot about it.”
A primary factor behind the support for a potential Wade candidacy has to do with his advocacy for LGBTQ+ rights. He and his wife, Gabrielle Union, share two daughters, including 15-year-old Zaya, who came out as transgender in 2020. Since their daughter’s transition, the couple have been outspoken in their support of transgender rights.
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Of his advocacy, Wade, who was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame on Saturday, told the outlet he’s aware of the significance of his platform: “I also understand that I have a role as an American citizen and as a known person to be able to highlight and speak on things that other people may not be able to because they don’t have the opportunity to do this.”
The family also recently relocated from Florida to California in the wake of an onslaught of anti-LGBTQ+ legislation passed under Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis.
"I have to make decisions for my family, not just personal, individual decisions," Wade told Rachel Nichols during an episode of Headliners this spring. "I mean, obviously, the tax [situation] is great. Having Wade County is great. But my family would not be accepted or feel comfortable there. And so that's one of the reasons why I don't live there."
Ray Paultre, who is the executive director of progressive donor group The Florida Alliance, previously told NBC News that Wade is “a Florida legend, whose leadership past and present has a lot of folks in our state sending feelers out.”
"We have seen former athletes, in both parties, bring something special to the political landscape," Paultre said at the time. "He hasn't been officially approached, but he is on the list of four or five dream candidates to challenge Rick Scott."
Mike Lawrie/Getty
The efforts to draw in either Wade or Hill came from a desire to beat the incumbent, far-right Sen. Rick Scott.
In February, as part of his “11-Point Plan to Rescue America,” Scott proposed several sweeping measures targeting LGBTQ+ rights, NBC News reported. The proposal included a call for nationwide bans on issues such as rules around transgender women in sports, and slammed the “radical left” for what he called an effort to “devalue and redefine the traditional family,” a clear attack on same-sex marriage.
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A veteran Democratic operative from the state said in the outlet’s initial report that “top donors and party leaders know they need different kinds of candidates with pre-existing profiles to mount statewide campaigns.”
The source added: “There’s a short list of retired athletes and business leaders who could fit that bill, and Dwyane Wade tops that list.”
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