Two former Florida congressmen brought their “Why Gridlock Rules Washington” tour to Orlando today.
David Jolly, (R), and Patrick Murphy, (D), held a town hall meeting on partisan gridlock in Washington. The former congressmen are visiting universities throughout the state to “Shine a light on the inside reasons why D.C. is in a state of chaos and dysfunction,” according to the tour’s website.
Dr. Martin Dupuis, Interim Dean of the Burnett Honors College and Associate Professor of Political Science, moderated the town hall.
Jolly and Murphy focused on three key issues which they say contribute to the gridlock in the nation’s capital: gerrymandering, closed primary systems, and campaign finance laws.
“The message for voters here in the state of Florida is that through state constitutional ballot initiatives like we saw with Fair Districts, we could break up gerrymandering,” Jolly said.
“We could also open our primary system and empower no-party and independent voters, and we can require structural campaign finance reform changes.”
The event was hosted by The Burnett Honors College at UCF along with the Lou Frey Institute.
Nicole Gelfert, Special Assistant to the Burnett Honors College Dean, said the event was a unique opportunity for the UCF community to hear from former members of Congress from both political parties about the challenges of governing in Washington today.
“Our hope as a College is to educate students about the importance of voting and encourage them to take part in our national dialogue.” said Gelfert.
Both Jolly and Murphy were defeated at the ballot box last November. Murphy lost a US House race against former Florida Governor Charlie Crist. Murphy lost against Marco Rubio for a seat in the US Senate.
The town hall at UCF was their third stop on the tour. Upcoming stops include the University of Miami, and the University of Florida in Gainesville.