Chris King felt disappointment and peace when he lost the Florida Democratic nomination to Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum in August, he said.
Days after Gillum won, King was surprised and honored when Gillum invited him to Tallahassee to ask him to run as his lieutenant governor, he said.
King talked to The Alligator about health care, education and equity.
Q: How did you meet Andrew Gillum?
A: I met Andrew when we were both running for governor. We competed against each other over and over and over again for 18 months. I spent about as much time with Andrew as I did with my wife during that period of time.
Q: Having gone to law school at a Florida university, what are your thoughts on the current state of education?
A: Overall, our thoughts are that it has been underfunded or unfunded at key areas of the educational spectrum. When we say education, we’re thinking about everything from early childhood education to university education. Mayor Gillum and I believe very strongly that the best states and the best economies invest significantly in preparing the workforce for the future. That starts as early as early childhood education. So, we have a plan to invest nearly a billion dollars of new resources in early childhood education, in K-12 public education and in technical and vocational education.
Q: What do you think can be done to facilitate racial equity in Florida universities and colleges?
A: You’re talking to the ticket that I think represents the future of Florida, even in its racial makeup. We look like Florida, and I think that positions us to know how to advance the types of policies at every level of government.
Q: Why do you think people, and more specifically college students, should vote for Gillum?
A: We’re the only environmentalists running. We’re the only folks who are talking about science and environmental policy-making. So for all those reasons, I think college students are like, ‘These are two young, entrepreneurial progressives and forward-thinking type people who want to shoot for the stars,’ or as we often say in our race, ‘swing for the fences.’ I think students are very idealistic.
Q: What would you say are the top three issues that you and Mayor Gillum are hoping to work on?
A: Number one is health care. We’re 20 days from the election, and we’re running against a candidate who’s been running for 261, and he doesn’t have a plan for health care in Florida. This should be very important to college students who are coming out of college and are looking for affordable health care.
Number two is public education. Mayor Gillum, who was educated during high school in Gainesville, is a passionate believer in the connection between investing in public education and growing the workforce of the future, the economy of the future. So this is the ticket that is talking about public education everywhere we go, from early childhood to university education. You hear crickets from the other side.
Third is the environment. We are living in a state right now that’s almost a science fiction novel in the sense we have all these different forms of algae ringing our coast. Our seas are rising. Our climate is warming, and storms are strengthening. We need the next governor of Florida to be very assertive and entrepreneurial and environmental and building the clean energy economy of the future.
So I would say those are the big three: health care, public education and the environment. I think we are in a class above Ron DeSantis, and I’m hoping younger voters — both high school-aged 18-year-olds and college students — vote this election.
This Q&A was edited for length and clarity.
Contact Jessica Curbelo at jcurbelo@alligator.org and follow her on Twitter at @jesscurbelo
Lt. Governor candidate Chris King visits Gainesville Wednesday afternoon to speak with The Alligator about his campaign with Andrew Gillum. King discussed health care, public education and the environment during the Q&A. King was selected as Andrew Gillum’s running mate after he lost the Democratic nomination for Florida governor.
