Governor candidates debate the issues, but not each other, at forum
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Byron Donalds (left) and David Jolly (right) spoke during a forum hosted by WLRN. Photos: Joe Raedle/Getty Images
Florida's gubernatorial candidates' stances on statewide issues like property taxes, housing and immigration came to a head Tuesday — albeit separately — during an economic forum hosted by WLRN, South Florida's public radio station.
Why it matters: The candidates won't be debating before the November election.
What they're saying: "I want to debate David Jolly. We were literally separated by drywall [today]," Byron Donalds told reporters after the event.
- "This is the stuff where you can come out, talk about the ideas, do that back-and-forth and that face-to-face. I think it's important," he said. "The ball's in his court."
The other side: "Our politics are broken. We're more divided than ever before," Jolly told WLRN's Tom Hudson, who moderated the event.
- "[I've been] going into towns [across the state] and we're gonna keep doing that, and I think that's the way we should do it."
Between the lines: Each candidate had 30 minutes with Hudson. Here's what each said on the most pressing issues:
Amendment 3
The measure would drastically reduce property taxes in Florida, lowering homeowners' tax bills, but would cost local governments billions.
Donalds will vote yes.
- "When they raised the homestead exemption 25 years ago, [county] services didn't go away."
- "I do acknowledge that fiscally-constrained counties [are] our problem." He suggested creating a state "funding formula" for those counties to rely on "a consistent flow of revenue."
Jolly acknowledged that residents are "desperate" for lower taxes, but doesn't think the math works.
- "It will create a crisis" and hurt the smaller municipalities, he said.
- He supports a first-time homebuyer exemption and said the state should consider local control of homestead exemptions.
Immigration
Donalds said the immigration system "has to be one based upon legal immigration with assimilation, period, full stop."
- Donalds said he disagreed with GOP Rep. Maria Salazar's message to President Trump saying his immigration crackdown had gone too far.
Jolly would not renew DeSantis' state of emergency regarding immigration, which the governor issued in 2023.
Data centers
Donalds, who has accepted campaign donations from companies behind data center growth, said local governments have the final say.
- "As governor, we're not going to preempt that," he said. "And we're not going to let utility bills increase because of a data center. And we want to keep them away from people's homes."
Jolly supports a one-year moratorium on data centers in the state and a third-party economic impact study. "Let the other 49 states build them."
- "75% of Florida" doesn't want them, he said, and "that should be enough" to put a pause on them, adding the environmental and economic impacts are still unknown.
Zoom out: If elected, Donalds said his tenure will resemble DeSantis' in his commitment to law and order and "conservative common sense principles."
- He said he'll focus on housing affordability, developing "real workforce training systems for juniors and seniors in high school" and the environment.
Jolly said he'd focus on housing, health care and education, and an overhaul of the state's appointments process.
- He said he'd fire Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo and choose someone who believes in evidence-based science.
- When it comes to scaling up workforce housing, Jolly said there's an existing fund that "could be deployed" but no agency to oversee it.