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John Morgan Still Coy About Running For Governor

John Morgan appears at the Bryan Glazer JCC in Tampa
Steve Newborn
/
WUSF News
John Morgan appears at the Bryan Glazer JCC in Tampa

Will he or won't he? Attorney John Morgan said little Friday to answer that question about whether he'll run for governor.

During an appearance at the Tampa Tiger Bay Club, Morgan was at times profane, funny and well-opinionated. The Orlando attorney has become ubiquitous not only for his ads blanketing billboards and buses, but his efforts to get an amendment passed that would allow the use of medical marijuana in the state. That experience, he said, gave him a taste of what running for governor would be like.

"If I did run, I would be the very best person to run, because I know how to punch and I know how to counter-punch," he said. "And they would not be ready for a guy like me. Because I'm not going to be saying the same old same old. I'm going to be speaking truth to power, and I'm going to hold them accountable."

Morgan painted himself as a "compassionate capitalist" whose first act as governor would be to try to raise the minimum wage.

"If I did it, I would do it in a way that I would only run for one term, I wouldn't want to do it twice," he said. "The issues that drive me can be done in one term."

But he says he has the advantage of time to make a decision whether to run, because he can afford to pay for his own campaign.

Credit Steve Newborn / WUSF News
/
WUSF News

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Steve Newborn is WUSF's assistant news director as well as a reporter and producer at WUSF covering environmental issues and politics in the Tampa Bay area.