Florida’s Republican gubernatorial primary saw Rep. Byron Donalds emerge victorious, swiftly overcoming a crowded field of 10 rivals on election night.
With the influential backing of former President Trump, Donalds secured a commanding 49% of the votes. His closest competitor, the state’s current Lieutenant Governor Jay Collins, earned 24.7%, while far-right advocate and previous investor James Fishback garnered 10.1%. Having once served as the Florida House Speaker, Paul Renner trailed behind with 8.2% as he contended for the third position.
Standing at age 47, Donalds was the undeniable frontrunner in this race, maintaining an impressive lead of over 30 percentage points against his contenders since October, according to poll averages compiled by RealClearPolitics.
Interestingly, Governor Ron DeSantis, who is ineligible for re-election, chose not to lend his backing to any candidate eyeing his post, including his own Lieutenant Governor.
Throughout the campaign, it was Fishback who constantly grabbed the media spotlight with his incendiary rhetoric. He leveled sharp accusations at Donalds, alleging his intentions to transform Florida into what he referred to as a “Section 8 ghetto,” alongside bold assertions of dispatching civilians equipped with AR-15 rifles to tackle youth violence plaguing the state.
Fishback, 31, also attacked Donalds for his pro-Israel views and acceptance of donations from pro-Israel political action committees — dubbing him “AIPAC Shakur” in a reference to the rapper Tupac Shakur and the American Israel Public Affairs Committee — as well as a “token black” and a “slave to his donors.”
The extreme candidate also joined Tinder, ostensibly to meet young female voters, even after a Florida school district cut ties with him in 2022 over an alleged inappropriate relationship with a minor student, NBC News reported.
Donalds ignored virtually all of his younger opponent’s offensive remarks, offering by way of response: “If you want to be ignorant, you’re allowed to be.”
Donalds raised more than $100 million for his campaign as well as committees backing his bid, a windfall that will now be put to use against Democratic nominee David Jolly, who served in the US House as a Republican from 2014 to 2017.
If elected in November, Donalds will become Florida’s first black governor and its fifth consecutive Republican chief executive.
The last Democrat elected governor of Florida was Buddy MacKay, who exited office in January 1999.
Jolly left the Republican Party in 2018 and registered as an independent. In 2022, the ex-House rep joined Andrew Yang’s Forward Party.
By 2025, Jolly, then a regular pundit on the left-leaning MS NOW, had registered as a Democrat to make his run for governor in Florida.