Florida Democrat Lays Out Plan To Flip Seat In District Trump Won By Double Digits In 2024

0:01Brussels clean up nicely at Sweetgreen. Maple glazed, roasted, and edges perfectly caramelized. Sweetgreen's fall harvest is back on the menu, and the season's most overlooked little green vegetable is dressed to be devoured. You know what to do. Order on the Sweetgreen app.

0:23Hi, everybody. I'm Brittany Lewis, a breaking news reporter here at Forbes. Joining me now is Jennifer Jenkins. She's a Democrat running to represent Florida's eighth congressional district. Jennifer, thanks so much for joining me.

0:34Jennifer Jenkins: Thanks for having me. You and I have spoken before over the past couple of years. We mostly stuck to education-related issues. We also had a conversation previewing the Democratic National Convention because you served as a delegate back in 2024. But now we are a week away from the midterms. You're running to unseat an incoming Congressman named Mike Herodopoulos. So to start off the conversation, what made you interested in running for Congress? Oh my gosh, I have had quite a journey. And I'm not a career politician. I spent my entire career serving children and families and had great conversations with you about education.

1:12Jennifer Jenkins: As an educator myself, married to a middle school teacher and as a former school member here in Brevard County. But I decided to run for Congress because I see a disconnect in Washington that they don't understand that leadership is about doing what's right and having the courage to do what's right, even when there's a personal cost to it. We have career politicians like my opponent who are protecting their power while we have working families who are struggling to afford their insurance and their groceries and their health care and their housing. So I'm hoping to bring my experience as an educator, but my perspective as a working mom and someone who's had to stand up under pressure to Washington.

1:53We've seen career politicians from both sides of the aisle, but what do you think is a strength for you coming in as an outsider here? And where do you see that disconnect that you're talking about?

2:05Jennifer Jenkins: You know, my opponent has been in politics, both in Tallahassee and now in Washington for a collective almost 25 years. This is a man who lives on a private island behind a gate, somebody who's been living off the backs of taxpayers his entire career. And I'm a mom and an educator who worked in the lowest paid state in this country. I've had two jobs since I graduated from college. I've literally delivered Instacart groceries to my neighbors to make ends meet. And so I know what it feels like to see the cost of everything around us going up and what it feels like to struggle. One of the hardest issues that we have here in Florida is homeowners insurance.

2:43Jennifer Jenkins: And my family has been hit with that very directly. And as I'm going from door to door and event to event, nobody wants to talk about anything that Washington is talking about. They want to talk about how we're going to make their lives more affordable. And so I think it's time that we finally have somebody who understands what those daily impacts really feel like. Before we talk about the political landscape at play, let's talk about some of those issues. Let's first talk about affordability, because that is an issue not just in Florida's 8th Congressional District. It is a top issue around the country.

3:14You talk about home ownership. That was a guarantee, right, of the American dream, right? If you work hard, you can get that white picket fence. You can own a home, too. Now a lot of people in their 40s, in their 30s, in their 20s, even teenagers, they see that as something being out of reach. People feel that life is not affordable anymore. more, how would you address the affordability crisis in this country?

3:39Jennifer Jenkins: I mean, there's so many different issues that I hear about from people as I'm talking to them at events and at the doors, but one of the ones that comes up the most often here in this district and probably across Florida for all the candidates who are running right now is the extreme cost of homeowners insurance here. It's really, really hitting people hard. We're getting crushed by it. And it's an area that the federal government can actually help in, and people are usually surprised to hear that. I support a federal catastrophe reinsurance backstop program. And I try to describe it to people that it's insurance for insurance companies when there's like a really catastrophic hurricane.

4:13Jennifer Jenkins: But it takes that risk off of that private market and it can reduce the rates for us as homeowners here in Florida. We have to have legislators, though, in Washington who are going to ensure that there are strings attached, that those savings go directly to the homeowners. It doesn't go to the bottom line of those insurance companies, but it's really critical. And it's something that's forcing people to sell their homes, to move out of the community, to move out of the state. We have a lot of workers here on the Space Coast who are struggling to even afford to live in the place that they're currently working in.

4:46And then when you zoom out, aside from home ownership and insurance, their prices are high for people. Within the past few months, the growth of prices have been outpacing the growth of wages. Gas prices, the national average, is over$4 for a gallon of gas in this country. When you're thinking about high prices, how would you address those specifically? Brussels clean up nicely at Sweetgreen. Maple glazed, roasted, and edges perfectly caramelized. Sweetgreen's fall harvest is back on the menu. and the season's most overlooked little green vegetable is dressed to be devoured. You know what to do.

5:27Order on the Sweet Green app.

5:33Jennifer Jenkins: It's a very complicated issue and I don't lie to people that it's something that'll be resolved overnight. I think it's important for us to tackle it piece by piece. When it comes to gas, I think we need to have someone in Washington who's going to admit that they've advocated their power to the man in the Oval Office to allow us to continue this war in Iran that nobody wanted and cause more and more pain to the American people in their pocket. I think one of the other issues other than homeowners insurance here in Florida that people are really struggling with is access to affordable health care.

6:04Jennifer Jenkins: And I know what that feels like. I grew up with a mom who was disabled. I was her medical advocate at a really young age. We need to do something to lower health care costs and expand access for, again, not just people in my district and not just in Florida, but all across this country. We have to protect the Affordable Care Act and the subsidies that help families afford those premiums. Florida was hit harder than any other state in this country. We need to make sure that Medicare is negotiating more prescription drug prices. I've had so many conversations, unfortunately, with seniors here in this district who have to choose between filling a prescription and buying those groceries that they can no longer afford.

6:42Jennifer Jenkins: I've spent my entire career working with children and families. And I know what it feels like for families to struggle with those needs. So we need to make sure we have people in Washington, again, who are focusing on the issues that are hitting people right in their pockets. People haven't been feeling good about the economy, feeling good about where prices are at for a while now. And when I've had conversations with Republicans and Republican candidates, especially in this election cycle, they've cherry-picked different numbers, right? Stock market's doing well. GDP is growing. Unemployment is relatively low.

7:15But that's not the vibe of the American people, right? I'm sure, I don't, I'm pretty sure you probably haven't talked to many people who said, I feel really good about the economy. I feel like life is very affordable right now. But I could flash back to two years ago in 2024, leading up to that election. I had very similar conversations with Democrats who seemed equally out of touch about the economy and how people felt about it. So when you're having these conversations, I'm sure a constituent you've run across has said, you know, but I can't trust Democrats to do that either because of 2020-24.

7:52What's your response to that?

7:54Jennifer Jenkins: I mean, my response is just being an honest human being. Neither did I, and neither do I. And that's why I decided to run. I feel those impacts just like they do every single day. I share with them my personal experience, the fact that I've had to have two jobs, the fact that I have to pay my student loans and I'm struggling to make those payments myself, and just relating to them on a daily basis. I think what people are searching for right now more than ever is not looking for a party, a Democrat or a Republican to stand beside, but they're looking for somebody to understand the impacts of what they're going through and somebody who's going to be honest about what they're experiencing as well.

8:35I want to pivot to education because clearly that is an issue that's important to you. You founded the organization Educated We Stand and you served on the Brevard County School Board. What actions, let's say you win this seat, would you take in Congress when it comes to education?

8:51Jennifer Jenkins: I think that Washington needs to go back to doing its actual job in public education. And so first, I would fully fund IDEA. Congress made a commitment to support our students with disabilities a long time ago, and it's never lived up to that commitment. We don't have one Republican member of the Florida congressional delegation who co-sponsored the bill to fully fund IDA, and that's just disgraceful. We also need to protect Title I funding. Those are our schools that serve our highest-need students, and we need to protect our Section 504 so that our students with disabilities can continue to have access to the education that they deserve.

9:26Jennifer Jenkins: We have to address teacher shortage. We have to invest in recruitment and retention and better and easier pathways for people to get into the profession, but most especially better pay. And so I absolutely would be a co-sponsor for Bernie Sanders' bill to make sure that we have a minimum standard wage for educators in America at$60 ,000. Another emerging issue that's really been a huge part of the conversation this election cycle has been artificial intelligence. And some people are really excited about the potential of AI. Other people are really concerned about the safety risks that this technology could pose.

10:03But I'm curious, where do you think Congress's role is in AI, especially when it comes to AI and education?

10:10Jennifer Jenkins: I think Congress has a role to play here. My opponent voted for the version of the big billionaire bill that would stop states and local governments from regulating AI and data centers and I'm completely against that. I know it's already a part of our everyday lives and it has enormous potential, but as an educator and as a parent, I think we have to embrace this technology without sacrificing our workforce and the communities that this technology is being developed in. Congress needs to establish guardrails. We have to protect our workers. We have to protect consumers. We need transparency about how the AI is going to be used and we need to have really strong privacy standards.

10:50Jennifer Jenkins: And we also can't ignore the environmental impacts of these data centers, the water that they're going to consume, the strain that they're going to put on an electrical grid, and what that means for utility bills of people in that community. So I support pausing large-scale data centers and their development while we're establishing those standards and understand the impact that it has on our communities. Florida's 8th congressional district, It was redrawn earlier this year, but it's still a solidly red district. Even the white was redrawn. Trump won there in 2024 by 16 points. Obviously, that means for you as the Democrat here, you would have to appeal to moderates, to Republicans, to independents.

11:32How do you plan to do that?

11:34Jennifer Jenkins: I mean, I've done it before. I won a school board seat here the year that Trump won by 17 points. I ended up winning by 10. I think, again, it goes back to people really just want to know that the person that's representing them is going to be available and be honest and transparent about who they are and what they believe and just take the time to listen about their concerns. This is a red district. However, you know, we have a representative who just hasn't showed up and has a disastrous record. Voters want to hear what a plan is for homeowners insurance, what a plan is for health care and their everyday costs.

12:09Jennifer Jenkins: And they're just not hearing that from my opponent. you're running as a Democrat and we've seen all different types of Democrats win in this election season. We've seen some Democratic Socialists or DSA-backed candidates win in big primaries. The Democrat in Florida's Senate race, she joined the DSA back in June. In other races, like in Kansas's Senate race, we've seen that candidate release an ad where unless you knew who the guy was, you could not tell if he was a Democrat because he didn't mention the word Democrat once, and he said he was a candidate who was right down the middle. Florida is a state where there are 1.5 million more Republicans than there are Democrats.

12:51It's also a state where the word socialist carries an especially heavy weight. What type of Democrat are you?

12:58Jennifer Jenkins: I'm a Democrat who solves problems and doesn't get distracted by the political rhetoric. The socialist attack isn't working for Republicans like they hoped that it would. It's definitely not working here in Florida. And I think it's because Trump's making that harder for them to land. You know, he's the most socialist president we've ever had. He takes shares of companies as our president. He picks winners and losers. He's promising$5 ,000 checks to people just so they can vote. No matter how hard the Republicans work to try and make that a label for all Democrats, voters don't care right now.

13:32Jennifer Jenkins: They care about affordability. You know, no one at the doors or at events that I meet are talking about socialism. They're talking about how am I going to afford my groceries? How am I going to afford my mortgage or my health care? So I just, I don't think it's landing. And quite frankly, you know, I served as a minority voice here as a Democrat in a really, really red district. And that's something that was thrown at me for the past six years. And I'm actually shocked that my opponent hasn't necessarily tried to hit me with that. Why do you think he hasn't? I think he's well aware that that's just not going to work, right?

14:05Jennifer Jenkins: I have a proven record here of who I am. I'm very honest about where I stand on issues. And again, I think he's starting to recognize that people in this district are not okay with the political rhetoric and the chaos anymore. They want to hear solutions, and he just simply doesn't have them. I was actually listening to a discussion you had. Your opponent was a part of it as well. I think it was with the Orlando Sentinel. But I was listening to that. I actually typed in to see socialist if that came up in the transcript, just to see if that was an attack at all, if that came up at all. There were no results for that word.

14:42And I heard your opponent, he talked about he has worked in a bipartisan way before. If you win this seat, if you become a member of Congress, how would you work across the aisle? What issues do you think you could find common ground with Republicans on?

14:58Jennifer Jenkins: Yeah. So in that specific interview that you're talking about, we weren't allowed to rebuttal each other or to fact check. I would challenge the congressman to point out when he's worked in a Barr-Potterson way, the bills that he points to are bills that passed with an overwhelming majority. It's rare. Quite often, he talks about it being them and the other side, and he's not somebody who's working with the other side. I had to. I had to work with the other side when I sat on my school board and we did get things done. I have no problem doing that when I get to Washington. I think that the issues that can be bipartisan in this moment that are in our very, very divisive climate in Washington are focusing on things that directly impact our children, our veterans, and our seniors.

15:40Jennifer Jenkins: I think that we can come across the board and make sure that we're making a difference in people's lives. And we are exactly one week away from election day. How are you spending this last week? I am at the doors in my community every single second I possibly can. I'm literally going to change into a t-shirt as soon as this interview is over and get back out in the community. Just reaching as many voters as I possibly can to remind them how important that their voice is and to make sure that they get out and vote. Jennifer Jenkins, I appreciate you coming on. Best of luck to you in this last final stretch here.

16:15And thanks so much for joining.

16:17Jennifer Jenkins: Thank you so much for having me. I really appreciate it. Thank you.

16:50to be devoured. You know what to do. Order on the Sweet Green app.