Attorney ‘Jawn’ Morgan is billboard-famous. Now he’s teasing a jump into politics.
John Morgan has floated the idea of running in the 2026 Florida gubernatorial race to replace Ron DeSantis, who is term-limited.
Philadelphians may know him as “Jawn” Morgan, but lately the Florida–based attorney whose slang-y billboards caused a local stir hopes to be seen as a political disrupter.
John Morgan, a Democratic megadonor who is the founder of the nationwide personal injury firm Morgan & Morgan, announced last week that he is forming a new political party for “those of us stuck in the middle.”
“Our two party system is broken due to Gerrymandering and divisive issues ... ” Morgan wrote in a Feb. 26 post on X.
Last year, as rumors swirled that he was considering running as an independent in Florida’s 2026 gubernatorial race, Morgan floated the idea of launching what he then called the “Capitalist Party.”
Morgan, speaking from his Hawaii home Monday, did not deny he was considering a gubernatorial run.
The attorney was certain in his belief that the Democratic brand was tarnished after the 2024 election — both in Florida and in more reliably blue areas like New Jersey — and that Americans were hungry for a new political movement.
“I think the fix for the whole country is a third party to build up, have some clout, and then give us what we don’t have in American politics right now — which is compromise,” Morgan told The Inquirer.
In addition to being the face of what is proclaimed to be the nation’s largest personal-injury firm, Morgan was long a fundraiser for Democratic candidates and is a vocal supporter of some causes associated with the political left.
That includes support for legalizing medical marijuana and sex work, as well as raising the minimum wage, though the billionaire’s other views — including stances against monopolies and transgender participation in youth sports — crisscross the political divide.
“The Republican party has made their way selling hope — promises that will never come true,” Morgan said. “But they sell hope, and the Democratic party sells woke. And hope versus woke is going to win every time in America today.”
Morgan considered a Florida gubernatorial run in 2017 but withdrew his support for the Democratic party that year, save for candidates he “likes personally.”
His coziness with the party continued to rupture last year, when he announced he would not put money behind former Vice President Kamala Harris in her presidential campaign.
Morgan has shared few other details about his purported third party since divulging a theoretical run in December to replace Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican who is term-limited.
“I’ve been approached by many high-level people who have polled my name and my numbers,” Morgan said Monday of a possible run. “I’m kind of undecided about what that part of my equation is gonna be.”
His main goal is to launch his party and gauge interest. The attorney added that any such group would likely no longer be called the Capitalist Party, because “people are turned off by capitalists.”
“I was thinking about the People’s Party, but my lawyer in Tallahassee said we could be confused with the Chinese party,” Morgan said.
As he mentioned on X, Morgan said joining the centrist third party No Labels was “not an option,” as the attorney believes the group’s branding does not offer voters a clear identity.
Of course, Morgan wouldn’t be courting Pennsylvania voters should he run. Yet, he remains a near-constant presence on Morgan & Morgan billboards up and down I-95 and elsewhere in the region.
And his tongue-in-cheek use of the Philly slang term jawn has ruffled feathers in the past, leading some local scholars to suggest Morgan had appropriated a term coined by the city’s Black community.
For other residents, the billboard squabble was simply a wake-up call that Morgan wasn’t actually based in Philadelphia — as the ads led some to believe.
If Morgan enters the Florida governors race, he would join a growing field of candidates that includes MAGA-approved Republican U.S. House Rep. Byron Donalds, who has already declared a bid to replace DeSantis. Other possible GOP contenders include former Rep. Matt Gaetz and Casey DeSantis, the governor’s wife.
Some form of announcement from Morgan seems imminent — on X, the attorney ended his musing over a new third-party by saying his lawyer was “drafting the paperwork.”