President Donald Trump listens as Republican Rep. Byron Donalds speaks at a campaign rally in Daytona Beach, Florida, on Friday. Donalds won his election and is set to become the state’s first black governor.
Jacquelyn Martin/AP
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Jacquelyn Martin/AP
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Republican Byron Donalds defeated Democrat David Jolly in the closely watched Florida gubernatorial race, according to a race call released by The Associated Press.
Donalds, who will become Florida’s first black governor, won the race with the support of President Donald Trump and a large campaign finance war chest. He won the gubernatorial race against a national backdrop where Republicans are increasingly unhappy with Trump over gas prices and the war with Iran.
Donalds remained perplexed on affordability issues – inflation, housing and insurance – and vowed to continue the conservative policies of outgoing Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, who remains popular in Florida and joins Donald during the campaign.
Several surveys showed a tight race in Donald’s favor for much of the campaign in a state that has about 1.5 million more registered Republicans than Democrats, and 3.3 million unaffiliated voters to win.
Donalds, 48, who spent most of his career in the financial industry, served two terms in Congress and two terms in the Florida House. Considered a rising star in the Republican Party, he started as a Democrat and left the party. in 2010. Donalds was an early supporter of Trump in the 2024 election, and Trump returned the favor by endorsing him. Donald rallied behind Trump just days before the elections.
Polls earlier this year showed Trump was less popular in Florida than DeSantis, and in September, Donalds appeared to distance himself from Trump by removing prominent mentions of Trump’s name from his campaign website.
Jolly campaigned on the slogan “believe in the best,” focusing on affordability issues such as housing, inflation and gas prices, as well as the AI data center boom. And on the track he called Donalds “Donalds data center” for accepting campaign contributions from industry stakeholders. Donalds presented legislation this summer, that would require data centers to generate their own electricity and water.
Jolly, 54, served in Congress as a republican before leaving the party in 2018 during President Donald Trump’s first term. He changed his registration to registration without party affiliation, then changed to the Democrat last year. He spent most of his career as a lawyer, lobbyist and television political analyst.
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