Republican Byron Donalds has won Florida’s closely watched governor’s race, defeating Democrat David Jolly, according to an Associated Press race call. Donalds will become the state’s first Black governor.
Donalds had President Donald Trump’s backing and a sizable campaign finance war chest. He campaigned on affordability, including inflation, housing and insurance, and promised to continue the conservative policies of outgoing Gov. Ron DeSantis, who joined him on the campaign trail.
Polls showed a close contest for much of the campaign. Florida has about 1.5 million more registered Republicans than Democrats, as well as 3.3 million voters unaffiliated with either party.
Donalds, 48, spent much of his career in finance and has served two terms in Congress and two terms in the Florida House. He began as a Democrat and left the party in 2010. An early Trump supporter in the 2024 election, Donalds rallied with the president days before the vote. In September, he removed prominent displays of Trump’s name from his campaign website.
Jolly, 54, focused his campaign on affordability, highlighting housing, inflation and gas prices, as well as the growth of AI data centers. He criticized Donalds for accepting contributions from data center industry figures. Donalds introduced legislation this summer that would require data centers to generate their own power and water.
Jolly served in Congress as a Republican before leaving the party in 2018. He later registered as unaffiliated and switched to the Democratic Party last year. His career has included work as a lawyer, lobbyist and television political analyst.
Sources: NPR News.