In 2016, roughly two years into his term as Tallahassee’s mayor, Andrew Gillum joined forces with billionaire activist Tom Steyer to hold a summit for members of a young elected officials network.

Gillum, who co-founded the YEO Network in 2006, hinted at his ambitions then, throwing out statistics from Rutgers that 53 percent of presidents serving in the 20th century held elected office before the age of 35. Gillum served in some capacity since he was 23. He also talked about his desire to change the conversation around climate change, expressing frustrations with officials in Washington who have all but given up on legislation related to climate adaptation or a carbon tax to address what a majority of scientists consider a clear threat to the planet.