Jolly adds prominent national, local advisors to gubernatorial campaign team
- Mark Parker
- 1 day ago
- 4 min read
With multiple polls confirming his frontrunner status among the Democratic field in Florida’s gubernatorial race, former Congressman David Jolly is establishing a new arsenal of top national, state, and local talent.
The campaign’s most prominent addition is Joe Trippi, who has worked in national Democratic politics for over four decades, including with Ted Kennedy and Walter Mondale. Touted on the cover of The New Republic as the man who “reinvented campaigning,” Trippi most famously managed Howard Dean’s groundbreaking grassroots presidential campaign in 2004, and was named as a senior advisor to Jolly.
Jolly, a Pinellas County native, has also welcomed a top local strategist to the team. Attorney Kimberly G. Jackson, who previously led the Institute for Strategic Policy Solutions (ISPS) at St. Petersburg College, will serve as a policy advisor.
South Florida-based Christian Ulvert, who served as lead strategist for Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava’s successful re-election bid in 2024, was also named a senior advisor for Jolly’s campaign. The announcement followed a recent Change Research poll of 2,070 registered voters that showed Jolly leading his chief Democratic primary opponent, Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings, 42% to 27%.
Republican frontrunner U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds (42%), endorsed by President Donald Trump, also trailed Jolly (46%) in the poll. “This is a race with profound national implications,” Jolly said in a prepared statement.
“As the country is now tuning into Florida and investing in Democratic prospects in the Sunshine State, we are continuing to build the team to win and deliver historic change,” Jolly added. “I’m thrilled to have Kimberly (Jackson), Christian (Ulvert), and Joe (Trippi) on board.”
Jackson recently stepped down as executive director of ISPS, where she championed statewide civic engagement and evidence-based policy decisions for over six years, to launch a private law and consultancy firm. The subsequent decision to join Jolly’s campaign was rooted in a shared belief that character, education, and active listening can help cure a fractured political landscape.
“I believe in David’s (Jolly’s) character, values, and integrity,” Jackson told Power Broker Magazine. “I believe that he wants to do things for the right reasons.”
A self-proclaimed policy nerd, Jackson emphasized the importance of people making informed, autonomous choices. That requires a deep understanding of pertinent issues rather than relying on soundbites, she said.
Jackson views matters that affect daily life — transportation, healthcare, the cost of living — not as abstract political talking points, but as an "ecosystem" that must support everyone, regardless of wealth, race, or ethnicity. “Everything we hear loudly - that’s not what we talk about as neighbors,” she said of partisan discourse.
“There’s no magic wand to change things; it really takes people understanding issues and going into their own system of life and values, and then making a decision,” Jackson elaborated. “That is a part of my DNA. I want people to have a choice, and if they come to the same conclusion after they’re educated about something, then they’ve done their job as a citizen.”
She believes Jolly also operates from a place of deep reflection, constantly seeking insight to better serve the public. A circle of astute advisors helps ensure decisions are made with clarity.
Jackson plans to lean on her active listening skills, an oft-underappreciated attribute refined throughout her tenure at ISPS, in her new role. “It is something that I value the most,” she said.
Listening to people from various walks of life in a “challenging environment” may not change your viewpoint, Jackson noted, but it does foster empathy. “It certainly lets you understand the complexity of things, and that allows you to be more open,” she added.
Florida hasn’t elected a Democratic governor since Lawton Chiles in 1994. Trippi is no stranger to helping candidates overcome seemingly insurmountable odds.
As a campaign media strategist, Trippi guided Jerry Brown to a comeback victory in the 2010 California gubernatorial race. In 2017, he also helped Doug Jones become the first Democrat to win a U.S. Senate race in Alabama in 25 years.
Trippi should help Jolly appeal to a broad range of voters who’ve become disenchanted with Trump’s influence over state politics. He has served as a senior advisor for the Lincoln Project, a national organization dedicated to fighting “Trumpism”and supporting democracy, since 2021.
“We have to stop seeing this as Democrat vs. Republican. Right vs left,” Trippi said of joining the Lincoln Project. “This has to be all of us coming together in a pro-democracy coalition to defeat an authoritarian movement that is using every means to seize power.”
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