Florida elects its first Black governor
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Rep. Byron Donalds at a campaign rally on Oct. 1 in Lakeland, Fla. Photo: Kevin Lamarque-Pool/Getty Images
U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds defeated Democrat David Jolly in Florida's governor's race, keeping the office in Republican hands, the Associated Press projected.
Why it matters: Donalds' victory makes him Florida's first Black governor and extends the GOP's decades-long hold on what was once a swing state.
- The race was close, with Donalds leading by less than 2% when AP called the race in his favor.
Driving the news: Donalds, a close ally of President Trump, will succeed term-limited Gov. Ron DeSantis, extending nearly three decades of Republican control of Florida's governor's mansion.
- Donalds raised more than $130 million during the campaign and won without participating in a general election debate.
- Trump's early endorsement helped Donalds emerge from a crowded Republican field, despite initial resistance from DeSantis.
- DeSantis argued last year that Donalds had played no part in the state's conservative victories and withheld his endorsement until after Donalds secured the GOP nomination.
In the campaign's final weeks, Jolly ran an attack ad that critics said played into the stereotype of an angry Black man.
- The ad cut from Donalds arguing with a former ally to body camera footage of a Donalds aide angrily confronting someone. Jolly defended the ad and said Donalds "does not support the Black community."
Between the lines: Donalds is the only governor-elect in recent memory with a record in the state Legislature, but he spent much of his campaign shying away from the bills he filed in Tallahassee.
- As a state representative, Donalds championed several criminal justice reforms, among them a bill to raise the felony theft threshold from $300 to $750, arguing it would keep people from reoffending.
- His Republican rivals later seized on the legislation to paint him as soft on crime, calling it "pro-shoplifting." Donalds didn't answer Axios' question during the campaign about whether he still stood by those reforms.
