ORLANDO, Fla. – Orlando attorney John Morgan confirmed in an online statement on Thursday that he is mulling over a run for Florida governor in 2018.
Morgan, 60, said in the post on Medium.com, he has received an “outpouring of encouragement to run for governor” since Democratic consultants announced they filed paper work on Monday for to create the For the Governor Political Committee.
The committee name is a play on Morgan’s “For the People” slogan.
“It is either extremely flattering that so many people put such faith in me or sad that
people have so little faith in the typical politicians of both parties who are expected to seek the office,” Morgan said.
The For the Governor effort is led by Democratic consultants Ben Pollara and Brian Franklin. The committee has $25,000 in commitments already, Pollara told Politico on Monday.
Without directly saying he will run, Morgan laid out his vision for what the next Florida governor should do.
No. 1 on his seven-point list was decriminalizing medical marijuana. “No more arrests,” Morgan wrote.
Florida medical marijuana Amendment 2 passed on Nov. 8, with Morgan’s backing, with more than 70 percent of the vote. The ballot measure allows medical marijuana prescriptions for 10 additional illnesses.
Morgan estimated he spent between $8 and 9 million of his own money to help push for the amendment’s approval.
Morgan also said the future governor should tackle increasing Minimum wage to $15 per hour, protecting Florida’s natural resources and eliminating jobs in State government “with no real need.”
Before deciding if he will run in 2018 or not, Morgan said he still needs a lot of time to think, but the support for a run has been humbling.
If Morgan does run, he said he would not start campaigning until the year of the election.
First, he said needs to get his Christmas shopping done before going to Maui and St. Bart’s for the winter.