State Rep. Dotie Joseph believes Floridians deserve a state government that makes their lives easier, protects their rights and puts their needs ahead of political division.
Joseph, a Democratic candidate for governor who would make history if elected, outlined a platform centered on affordability, civil rights, education, health care, housing and immigration during an interview on the Can We Talk Podcast powered by Hy-Lo News.
“I know how to make the government work for us,” Joseph said. “And right now, it ain’t working for us. So I want to change that.”
Joseph was born in Haiti and raised in Miami-Dade County, where she attended public schools including Charles R. Drew Elementary, Lakeview Elementary, Norland Middle and Design and Architecture Senior High School.
After graduating from Yale University, Joseph earned her law degree from Georgetown University. Her early professional experiences included working in constituent services for a member of Congress, interning at the Carter Center and working with refugees from Sudan, Congo and Uganda.
Joseph also worked with the U.S. Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division and the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law. She later clerked for a federal judge, practiced civil rights law and became the first Black attorney to work for the city of North Miami Beach, where she served as assistant city attorney, deputy city attorney and interim city attorney.
“I’ve been involved in whether we’re talking about civil rights or human rights,” Joseph said. “I’m not new to this. I’m true to this.”
Joseph has served in the Florida Legislature for eight years, including as Democratic minority leader pro tempore, the second-highest-ranking Democrat in the House.
Her gubernatorial candidacy could make history. If elected, Joseph would become Florida’s first Black governor and the first Black woman to lead the state.
Joseph said her upbringing as the daughter of a pastor and a nurse taught her to care for others and stand up for people who need help.
“Bottom-line answer is: for the people,” Joseph said when asked why she is running. “We live in a time where there are a lot of things going on that are attacking the Black community, the immigrant community and lots of communities — people who just care about equality, diversity, inclusion, justice and freedom.”
Joseph said her campaign has three central priorities: making Florida affordable for everyone, protecting civil rights and democracy, and replacing political hostility with “less hate and more love.”
“I was not raised to hate,” she said. “I was taught to love thy neighbor. Enough of the culture wars and foreign wars. I want to focus on us. I want to focus on our real needs and taking care of our real needs.”
Affordability is a major part of Joseph’s campaign. She said her plans would address the cost of housing, health care, insurance, gas and groceries.
“These are not just talking points,” Joseph said. “I’ve actually filed legislation. I have real plans to get this stuff done.”
One of those proposals is the Healthy Florida Act, which Joseph said would establish universal health care for Floridians and limit the cost of insurance premiums.
“It’s crazy to me that we live in the so-called richest country in the world and we don’t take care of our people,” Joseph said. “You shouldn’t have to decide between, ‘Am I going to pay for my medication or get my groceries?’”
Joseph has also filed legislation she calls the Real Affordable Housing Act. The proposal would limit the number of single-family homes that institutional investors, including private equity firms and hedge funds, could purchase.
“They don’t actually care if somebody lives in the house or not,” Joseph said. “They’re just getting something to add to their balance sheet. We want people to actually be able to live in their homes.”
Joseph said her housing proposal would also give local governments greater flexibility to address rising rents and establish land banks that could convert properties into long-term affordable housing.
As governor, Joseph said she would use the Office of Insurance Regulation to scrutinize the business practices of property insurance companies and work to limit excessive rate increases.
She raised concerns about insurers moving profits into affiliated companies outside Florida while leaving losses with subsidiaries operating in the state.
“They’ll put the profits in one company and the losses in another,” Joseph said. “They’ll send the profits out of state, and it’ll go to things like CEO bonus pay. But in the meantime, you have people sitting here claiming losses and bankruptcy here in Florida.”
Joseph said corporations should pay their fair share instead of leaving homeowners responsible for the consequences.
“I want to make sure that corporations are paying their fair share and they’re not leaving homeowners holding the bag,” she said.
Joseph also opposes property tax policies that could cause Floridians to lose their primary residences. She suggested exempting the first $300,000 of a homesteaded property’s value from taxation while continuing to tax value above that threshold.
“Homeownership is one instrument that we have to help build generational wealth,” Joseph said. “There’s no reason that property taxes need to be the reason that somebody becomes homeless.”
Joseph said her legislative experience taught her that effective leadership requires knowing when to speak out and when to work with members of the opposing party.
“There are times where you need to stand up and speak up regardless,” she said. “And there are times where you need to figure out how to work across the aisle.”
After George Floyd’s murder, Joseph said she brought civil rights groups, law enforcement organizations, Black bar associations and community advocates together to develop criminal justice proposals.
Some of those ideas became part of a criminal justice reform package that addressed officers’ duty to intervene, chokehold standards, police training and the minimum age at which a child can be arrested.
“It’s one thing to be out there protesting,” Joseph said. “It’s another thing to change it, put it into actionable policy that will be sustaining.”
Joseph also pointed to legislation allowing survivors of domestic violence to qualify for unemployment compensation when they leave a job to escape an abuser. Typically, employees who voluntarily resign are not eligible for those benefits.
She said survivors frequently face two immediate questions when leaving an abusive situation: where they will live and how they will support themselves and their children.
“If you’re leaving because of that, and it’s documented, then you can still qualify for unemployment compensation while you’re looking for another job,” Joseph said.
On education, Joseph said her administration would reject efforts to minimize slavery or whitewash Black history.
“We would get rid of that PragerU foolishness,” Joseph said. “We are not trying to tell our kids that somehow slavery was good. That’s wild.”
Joseph said she wants Florida to move away from political fights over classroom instruction and focus on preparing students to compete in a global economy. She also wants schools held to consistent standards, including requirements for teacher certification.
“We would eliminate all of that political brainwashing, whitewashing agenda and get back to actually preparing our kids,” she said. “We get out of the business of culture wars and get back into the business of actual education.”
Transportation would also fall under Joseph’s authority through the Florida Department of Transportation. She said she supports improving connections among different regions of the state to expand access to jobs, tourism and cultural experiences.
Joseph said transportation projects should not divide established communities and must include better communication with the neighborhoods they affect.
“I want to make sure that there’s enough communication so people understand what’s happening in their neighborhoods,” she said. “I want to make sure those kinds of things are addressed on the front end rather than as a complaint after the fact.”
On immigration, Joseph said Florida should not use state and local resources to carry out federal immigration enforcement. As a state representative, she said she has voted against budget measures supporting agreements that allow local law enforcement agencies to perform certain immigration enforcement duties.
“Florida needs to get out of the business of immigration anything,” Joseph said. “We should not be involved in immigration enforcement.”
Joseph said a governor must ensure that immigrants receive due process and that immigration agents follow the law.
“I just want to make sure that people are protected, that their rights are respected, and we don’t have lawlessness on any side of the equation,” she said.
Joseph entered the gubernatorial race approximately two months before the Democratic primary, significantly later than several of her opponents. She said she joined the race to give Democrats another option — particularly a candidate with experience working in all three branches and at all three levels of government.
When asked how she could win a statewide general election, Joseph said she would focus on everyday concerns shared by Democrats, Republicans and voters with no party affiliation.
“My strategy is simple: Speak to the needs of people,” Joseph said. “There is more that unites us than what divides us.”
She said her experience presenting policy ideas to voters across party lines has shown her that practical solutions can overcome some political divisions.
“I’m not here for decoration,” Joseph said. “I’m here to get things done.”
Joseph closed the interview by arguing that Florida’s affordability crisis is not inevitable. She said it is the result of policy decisions that can be reversed if voters choose different leadership.
“We deserve nice things, too,” Joseph said. “We can turn the page on what this has been, and we can have a different Florida — one that we’re proud of, one where we actually love thy neighbor and we take care of one another.”
“It doesn’t have to stay this way,” she added. “We can change, and we can change together.”
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