Donalds and Jolly win Florida governor primaries

Florida voters chose Rep. Byron Donalds and former Rep. David Jolly as the major-party nominees for governor Tuesday, setting up a November race that will test whether Democrats can regain ground in a state Republicans have increasingly dominated.

Donalds, a Republican congressman endorsed by President Donald Trump, won a crowded GOP primary, NBC News projected. Jolly, a former Republican member of Congress who later became a Democrat, won his party’s nomination after facing limited opposition.

The results formally launch the contest to succeed Gov. Ron DeSantis, who cannot run again because of term limits after eight years in office. Republicans are seeking to extend a long hold on Florida’s governorship: The party controls all levels of state government and has not lost a governor’s race there since 1994.

Florida was once the nation’s largest battleground state, but Republicans have strengthened their position over the past decade. DeSantis won re-election in 2022 by more than 20 points, a margin that fueled Republican claims that the state had moved decisively away from its swing-state past. The Cook Political Report rates the governor’s race as Solid Republican, CBS News reported.

Jolly’s candidacy is being watched as a measure of whether Democrats can rebuild after the DeSantis era. A former GOP congressman, he is viewed as a more moderate Democrat at a time when some in the party have argued that nominees to the left of center struggled in high-profile statewide races, including the 2018 governor’s race that DeSantis narrowly won.

Jolly became the second prominent Republican-turned-Democrat to run for Florida governor in two election cycles, CBS News reported. His path to the nomination became easier after Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings suspended his campaign in June following a cancer diagnosis. Former Democratic state Rep. Dottie Joseph also ran but did not gain significant momentum.

The Republican primary was more combative. Donalds raised nearly $100 million and led most public polling after Trump endorsed him in May, according to NBC News. First elected in 2020 to represent Naples, Fort Myers and nearby areas, Donalds has long identified himself with Trump’s “Make America Great Again” movement. He is a prominent member of the House Freedom Caucus and challenged Kevin McCarthy for House speaker in 2023, a fight that helped force 15 rounds of voting. He also sought the speaker’s post after McCarthy was removed 10 months later.

Donalds’ main Republican rivals included James Fishback, Lt. Gov. Jay Collins and former Florida House Speaker Paul Renner. Fishback, a right-wing figure new to politics, repeatedly attacked Donalds and drew attention for his language and associations. The Republican Party of Florida criticized Fishback in June for what it called “antisemitic and racist attacks,” NBC News reported. CBS News described Fishback as a far-right online provocateur who used racial slurs and sexist language during the campaign and received support from white nationalist personality Nick Fuentes.

Fishback also faced scrutiny over past business dealings and his work running a youth debate program. NBC News reported last year that his early political rise was tied to former DeSantis advisers and that at least one school district cut ties with the debate program after sexual misconduct allegations. Fishback has denied wrongdoing.

Collins and Renner spent much of their campaigns attacking each other as they struggled to gain traction against Donalds. DeSantis appointed Collins as lieutenant governor last year, and Collins was initially seen as the person DeSantis wanted to succeed him. That relationship later deteriorated, and DeSantis did not support his campaign. DeSantis also did not endorse in the primary, though he said in the final weeks that Renner would be a “really good” governor while stopping short of a formal endorsement.