Nocatee, Florida — State Representative Dotie Joseph, a North Miami Democrat, filed paperwork to enter Florida's crowded governor race one day before the qualifying deadline.
Joseph, a four-term lawmaker representing northern Miami-Dade County in House District 109, filed Thursday to join a contest that already had 19 qualified candidates by noon that day. Her Jacksonville-based campaign treasurer, Keith Gabriel, confirmed the filing to Florida Politics.
A Georgetown- and Yale-educated lawyer born in Haiti who has lived in Florida since 1982, Joseph was first elected to the House in 2018. She has worked as an ambitious lawmaker in the Democratic super-minority, consistently passing legislation on unemployment compensation, homeowners' insurance, communications privacy, child sexual abuse statutes of limitation, and anti-human trafficking policy.
Joseph's entry drew questions from political observers because she had not publicly expressed interest in running for governor. Her political committee, Victory Now, has raised just under $11,000 over the past two years through May 31, with none of that sum coming this year. By comparison, Democratic frontrunner and former U.S. Representative David Jolly has raised more than $6.1 million.
