How Floridians, Democrats, Republicans reacted to life of Bob Graham

TALLAHASSEE — Late Tuesday night, the family of former Gov. and U.S. Sen. Bob Graham announced the death of one of Florida’s political giants.

The news prompted an outpouring of support from Floridians and politicians of all political stripes:

Former U.S. Rep. Gwen Graham

Gwen Graham, one of Bob Graham’s four daughters, was the only one to try to follow their father into the governor’s mansion. He was a frequent presence during her campaign to be the Democratic nominee for governor in 2018.

In a statement Tuesday night, Gwen Graham posted a statement from his family, writing that he was “a rare collection of public accomplishments and personal traits that combined to make him unforgettable.”

“Bob Graham would tell people his favorite title was not Governor or Senator,” the family wrote. “It was the name his grandchildren gave him: Doodle. ‘When I’m really good, they call me Super Doodle,’ he liked to say.”

“We thank God for the gift of his life,” they added.

Gov. Ron DeSantis

DeSantis, Florida’s Republican governor, posted on social media Wednesday saying Graham was a “devoted public servant who, among other important work, made enormous achievements in conserving Florida’s natural resources.”

DeSantis said that Florida was grateful for Graham’s service to the state and nation.

During a news conference Wednesday morning, DeSantis said that Graham “served this state with honor and integrity and really made a great contribution.”

DeSantis later Wednesday ordered flags be flown at half-staff in Graham’s honor.

President Joe Biden

The Democrat was in the Senate throughout Graham’s tenure there.

“He was full of humor and humanity, and I’m grateful for the support that he gave me over the years,” Biden said in a statement issued by the White House on Wednesday.

Biden cited Graham’s opposition to the Iraq War and his co-sponsoring of Biden’s Violence Against Women Act, “transforming the way our nation responds to domestic abuse and sexual assault.”

Biden also referenced Graham’s “work days,” a series of more than 400 campaign stunts that brought him closer to Floridians by working everyman jobs like garbage loader, short-order cook and mall Santa Claus.

“He knew it matters to walk a mile in other folks’ shoes,” Biden said.

Former President Barack Obama

“Bob Graham was a friend and consummate public servant,” Obama wrote on X.

He was also a “champion of the environment,” which is why, Obama said, he appointed him to be co-chairperson of the National Commission on the 2010 British Petroleum Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush

Bush, a Republican, ushered in the wave of GOP dominance in Florida when he was elected governor in 1998. He praised Graham, who was a Democrat.

“Florida and our country has lost a great public servant,” Bush wrote on X. “Bob Graham served Floridians with a servants heart, with integrity and with civility.”

As a U.S. senator, Graham was critical of Bush’s brother, then-President George W. Bush, and was one of just 23 U.S. senators to oppose the president’s request to authorize the use of force preceding the 2003 Iraq war.

U.S. Sen. and former Florida Gov. Rick Scott

Scott, who was the Republican governor of Florida from 2011 to 2019, said Graham was a “good man and a great Floridian who dedicated his life to our state.”

“His legacy will live forever, not because of any title he held, but for what he did with those opportunities to improve Florida and the lives of families in the Sunshine State,” Scott said on social media Tuesday night.

Scott said he and his wife, Ann, were heartbroken, and noted that Graham and Graham’s wife, Adele, were always kind to his family.

Former U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi

Pelosi, a Democrat, called Graham “a patriotic American and a great Member of the United States Senate.”

“Paul and I extend our sympathy to his entire family, with gratitude for his distinguished public service,” she posted on the social platform X.

During his time in the Senate from 1987 to 2005, Graham led the congressional inquiry into the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

Pelosi was minority leader and the ranking Democrat on the House intelligence committee at the time.

Republican Party of Florida

The Florida GOP wrote that its prayers were with Graham’s family Tuesday night.

“Governor Bob Graham was a great statesman and public servant that cared deeply for the state of Florida,” the party posted on X. “He will be missed, but never forgotten.”

Florida Democratic Party

Graham, who served as governor from 1979 to 1987, was from an era of Florida politics that was dominated by Democrats until the late 1990s.

But within the party at the time, he was part of a group known as the Doghouse Democrats, a more progressive group at odds with the Florida Panhandle establishment.

In a statement, the Florida Democratic Party wrote that Graham “set the standard for every elected official who followed — both Democrat and Republican.”

“Part of the DNA of every Florida Democrat is living up to the example Bob Graham set for us,” the party wrote. “As we honor his legacy, may we all love and serve Florida the way he did — with a twinkle in our eyes and a curiosity for things unknown.”

Florida Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis

Patronis, a Republican, wrote that Graham would “long be remembered as a statesman who truly cared for the state of Florida.”

He recalled Graham visiting Patronis’ family restaurant, Captain Anderson’s in Panama City Beach. And when Patronis was a community college student, Graham “was kind enough to take me to lunch in the FL Senate dining room and share some wisdom,” Patronis wrote.

“He will be missed,” Patronis wrote.

Former state Rep. Sean Shaw

Even after leaving politics, Graham still stumped for candidates, including Shaw’s unsuccessful 2018 run for Florida attorney general. Shaw, a Democrat from Tampa, posted a picture on X Tuesday of Graham on the trail.

Graham also appointed Shaw’s father, attorney Leander Shaw, to the Florida Supreme Court in 1983, making him the second Black justice on the bench. Leader Shaw, who died in 2015, became the state’s first Black chief justice in 1990.

“Bob Graham was the best of Florida. Ethics. Environment. Diversity. People,” Shaw wrote. “Without Bob Graham, there would be no Chief Justice Leander Shaw.”

Attorney General Ashley Moody

Moody was on the opposite end of Graham’s stumping in 2018 when she ran as a Republican for Florida attorney general. Wednesday morning, she called Graham a “true public servant” and said Graham “loved Florida and so many Floridians loved him back.”

The University of Florida

Graham graduated with a bachelor’s degree from the University of Florida in 1959. In 2006, Graham created the nonpartisan Bob Graham Center for Public Service at UF with the goal of spurring civic engagement and encouraging public service.

On UF’s X account Wednesday morning, the university wrote that Graham’s “life of leadership will continue to train and shape the next generation of leaders.”

Democratic Florida Senate Leader Lauren Book

Book, the outgoing leader of the Florida Senate Democrats, said on X that Graham was a lifelong friend and a “kind and decent human being” who uplifted everyday working people.

“Florida would be better off if there were more like Governor Graham,” she said.

U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor

Castor, who represents Tampa as a Democratic member of Congress, remembered Graham in a statement for uniting Floridians with his positive outlook and “can-do” spirit.

“Honest, smart, always with his notebook, informed by his ‘workdays,’ devoted to Florida’s natural environment, a booster for public education and committed to high ethical standards - Graham was one of Florida’s greatest public servants,” she said in a statement.

Former U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson

Nelson, a Democrat and the NASA administrator, called Graham one of “America’s finest public servants” in a tribute posted to X Wednesday morning.

U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio

Rubio, a Republican, said Graham, from his time as governor to his time in the U.S. Senate, “always understood whom he served.”

“It was a core value, one that he lived out even after he retired from public service,” Rubio said in a statement. “Florida, and the nation, lost a very good man. Jeanette and I are praying for Adele, their kids, and the entire Graham family.”