ORLANDO, Fla. — Florida’s primary voters went with the favorites in both parties Tuesday night, setting up a long-expected clash to determine who will serve as the state’s next governor after eight years of Gov. Ron DeSantis.
On the Republican side, Rep. Byron Donalds, who has been endorsed by President Donald Trump, outran a crowded GOP field to win his party’s nomination, NBC News projects, while Republican-turned-Democrat David Jolly, a former member of Congress, won his primary.
Both outcomes were expected, but they officially kick off a general election showdown in which Republicans are trying to extend their decadeslong grip on Florida’s governorship, while Jolly and Democrats are out to prove the longtime battleground state has not gotten totally out of reach for their party.
Republicans control all levels of state government in Florida and have not lost a race for governor since 1994.
Even as Republicans have dominated the state’s gubernatorial contests, Democrats largely remained competitive — until DeSantis, who could not run again due to term limits, won his 2022 re-election bid by more than 20 points. That historic margin prompted a huge Republican victory lap and claims that Florida had changed since its days as the nation’s largest swing state.
Jolly’s candidacy is seen as a test case for whether that is the state’s new, GOP-dominated political identity, or whether Democrats can re-build after the eight-year DeSantis era.
Jolly, a former Republican member of Congress, later changed parties and is seen as a more moderate Democrat. That’s something many in the party believed was needed after more progressive nominees, including the Democratic gubernatorial nominee who narrowly lost to DeSantis in 2018, came up short in high-profile governor’s races.
Jolly faced only nominal competition for the Democratic nomination after Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings suspended his campaign in June after a cancer diagnosis. Former Democratic state Rep. Dottie Joseph was also in the race but never really gained momentum.
Meanwhile, the Republican primary contest was heated and personal.
Donalds raised a staggering nearly $100 million and held a huge lead in most public polling after Trump endorsed him in May, but three other GOP candidates ran campaigns relentlessly attacking the congressman.
James Fishback, a controversial right-wing figure new to politics, spent the campaign criticizing the frontrunner, at times using shocking language designed to generate attention. The Republican Party of Florida criticized Fishback in June for leveling what it called “antisemitic and racist attacks.”
Fishback also faced criticism over his past business dealings and his time running a youth debate program. NBC News reported last year that Fishback’s early political rise was tied to former DeSantis advisers and that at least one school district cut ties with the debate program he ran after sexual misconduct allegations. Fishback has denied wrongdoing.
Fishback held dozens of rallies across the state and gained support from younger male voters in particular, according to pre-election polling. His endorsements included, among others, white nationalist personality Nick Fuentes.
The other two most-visible GOP candidates were Lt. Gov. Jay Collins and former Florida House Speaker Paul Renner, whose campaigns spent most of their time attacking each other as they tried, and failed, to gain traction against Donalds.
Collins was appointed by DeSantis last year to serve as his lieutenant governor, and was seen as the person at that time DeSantis wanted to succeed him as governor. That relationship, however, quickly fell apart and DeSantis ultimately did not support his campaign.
DeSantis did not endorse in the race to replace him.
Renner served as speaker of the state House for two years during DeSantis’ governorship and helped him secure several policy wins that later went on to serve as the basis for DeSantis’ 2024 presidential campaign.
In the final weeks of the race, DeSantis said he thought Renner would be a “really good” governor, but he stopped short of a full endorsement.
