On Saturday night, the four leading Democratic gubernatorial candidates took the stage at the Pinellas Park High School in St. Petersburg to continue defining their campaigns while also trying to prove why the others are no good.
Former Congresswoman Gwen Graham, Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum, former Miami Beach Mayor Philip Levine and businessman Chris King all took part in the debate with the exception of millionaire real estate investor Jeff Greene.
In the debate, Graham made a bold statement by saying that, should she be elected Governor of the sunshine state, she would ban assault weapons by an executive order. She explained that her "commitment to you is action, not words. I have found a public safety statute that allows the Governor, whoever she may be, to sign an executive order for public safety reasons banning the sale of military assault weapons." That statue was later explained as 14.022, which gives the Governor authority to take emergency action to combat violence.
After the debate, the Graham campaign then released a statement saying that the executive order would be signed her first week in office.
Leading up to the debate, Graham has faced scrutiny over not being progressive enough, and this surely made some ears perk as an independent poll released yesterday indicated that Philip Levine was the frontrunner in the Democratic primaries.
