John Morgan

John Bryan Morgan (born March 31, 1956) is an American attorney and political figure based in Florida, best known as founder of personal injury law firm Morgan & Morgan. He is the founder of the centrist Common Ground Party, which he launched in June 2026.

Politico has described Morgan as "the godfather of Florida's medical marijuana amendment and a former Democratic fundraiser."

Early life and education Morgan was born on March 31, 1956, in Lexington, Kentucky. He is the eldest of five children, to Ramon Morgan and Patricia Morgan. When Morgan was fourteen years old, his family moved to Winter Park, Florida. In 2018, the firm received over two million phone calls and signed up 500 new cases each day. That year, the firm collected $1.5 billion in settlements and spent $130 million nationwide on advertising. Morgan was one of the first lawyers to advertise in phone books and television commercials.

Morgan & Morgan has been involved in a number of notable legal cases, including the Daytona Beach Rollercoaster Incident, the Tampa Walgreens Sexual Harassment case, a twenty-two million dollar case against Healogics Inc., a major lawsuit against R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company in 2018, and a class action lawsuit against a data broker, Exactis, over a data breach.

In August 2022, Morgan starred in his firm commercial using the metaverse.

Politics Morgan is a former prominent donor to the Democratic Party.

He stated in November 2016 that he was considering running for Governor of Florida in the 2018 election. On November 24, 2017, he announced on Twitter that he was disillusioned with the current state of American politics and was leaving the Democratic Party to register as an independent. He also criticized the Democratic National Committee for supporting Hillary Clinton before the Democratic primary was over in 2016.

Morgan has been an advisor and fundraiser for Bill Clinton, Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, and Nancy Pelosi.

Morgan donated to Hillary Clinton's 2016 presidential campaign. Morgan gave $355,000 to the Biden Victory Fund in August 2020.

In January 2024, Morgan mentioned the possibility of running as a centrist independent candidate in Florida's 2026 gubernatorial election. During an interview Politico in December 2024, Morgan said that he would run under the "Capitalist Party" if he runs for governor in 2026 and would support the legalization of marijuana and prostitution, oppose allowing transgender students to play in sports that match their gender identity, and described himself as being anti-monopoly.

On April 13, 2026, Morgan announced on an X post that he would not run for governor. In the announcement, he said he would still go forward with creating a new political party and announced a $100,000 contest to make a name for the party.

Medical cannabis legalization

Motivated by his younger brother Tim Morgan's paralysis and struggle with cancer, Medical cannabis appeared as 2016 Florida Amendment 2 on the November 2016 ballot. Morgan contributed to the "yes" efforts by donating $6.5 million along with television and radio advertisements personally supporting the measure.

Morgan organized the United for Care campaign and was involved in revising the language of Amendment 2. Medical use of cannabis in Florida was legalized in 2016 by way of a constitutional amendment. Appearing on the ballot as Amendment 2, the initiative was approved with 71% of the vote. Morgan & Morgan was a major donor to the political committee Florida for a Fair Wage, donating the bulk of the $4.15 million raised by the campaign. In October 2019, Morgan announced that he had acquired enough signatures to get the minimum wage amendment on the ballot in November 2020. The amendment passed on November 3, 2020, via a statewide referendum concurrent with other elections. The amendment sets to increase the state's hourly minimum wage to $15 by 2026.

Orlando Weekly reported that some employees at Morgan & Morgan made less than $15 per hour. When questioned by Orlando Weekly, Morgan replied by saying "I can tell what angle you're getting at with this story, and it's bullshit," saying that many of his call center employees start out with a $25,000 annual salary (an hourly wage of $15 an hour is equal to roughly $31,200 a year). Morgan said the turnover rate for employees at his call center is very high in the first six months, but those who stick it out make an average of $35,000 a year.

Morgan and his wife, Ultima Ann Morgan, were among major donors and fundraisers behind the opening of Boys Town Orlando and Annunciation Catholic Academy in Altamonte Springs. In 2015, the Morgans pledged $1 million toward a $7.4 million Harbor House domestic abuse shelter. Among other donations are $1 million to the UF law school; and $1 million to the homeless aid nonprofit Community Resource Network; $2 million to help build the Second Harvest Food Bank's central warehouse; and $1 million toward a new Harbor House domestic violence shelter. PMP Marketing Group, ClassAction.com, and Abogados.com. He is a partner in the legal software company Litify.

In 2015, the Morgans donated $1 million to Harbor House of Central Florida to support the creation of a domestic violence shelter named the Morgan & Morgan Home - A Safe Haven for Families.