Oct. 5, 2026, 5:04 a.m. ET
- Florida’s 2026 gubernatorial election will feature Republican Byron Donalds against Democrat David Jolly.
- Current Governor Ron DeSantis is term-limited and cannot seek re-election.
- If elected, Byron Donalds would become the first African-American governor of Florida.
- David Jolly, a former Republican congressman, left the GOP in 2018 and is now running as a Democrat.
For the first time since 2019, Florida’s governor’s mansion will be occupied by someone other than Ron DeSantis, who replaced term-limited Republican incumbent Rick Scott.
DeSantis, a Republican, is ineligible to seek re-election to a third consecutive term so this year’s gubernatorial election, held Nov. 3, 2026, will match GOP candidate Byron Donalds against Democratic candidate David Jolly.
Republicans have won every gubernatorial election in Florida since 1998 and if that trend continues, Donalds would become the first African-American governor of Florida.
Jolly served as the U.S. representative for Florida’s 13th congressional district from 2014-2017 as a Republican. But he left the Republican party in 2018.
Florida Governor Republican candidate Byron Donalds
- Party: Republican
- Current position: U.S. representative Florida’s 19th district
- Age: 47
- Family: Wife Erika, three sons
- Running mate: Bryan Avila, former Florida state senator from 39th district (2022-2026)
- Background: Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., Donalds has had some issues in the past. He was charged with marijuana possession, which ended in a pretrial diversion program. He was also charged with bank fraud, but the record was sealed and expunged. He attended Florida A&M University, then Florida State University where he earned a degree in marketing and finance. Donalds worked in banking before he was elected to Florida House of Representatives in 2016. First elected to U.S. House in 2020.
- Money raised: $120 million (as of Sept. 27)
- On schools: Donalds wants to install an individualized plan system for each child once they reach 6th grade. The students would map their progress toward a possible career.
- On property taxes: Favors getting rid of property taxes entirely but recognizes many smaller Florida counties could suffer steep revenue shortfalls that would have to be addressed.
- On home insurance: Supports finding ways to stabilize the insurance market and create a “scorecard” that would let people compare companies on such metrics as how quickly claims are approved and when they are paid out.
- On the environment: Supports completion of Everglades restoration programs, expansion of access to water and improvement of water quality.
- On data centers: Views them as vital to the state’s economic and technological growth, but says they facilities cover their own power and water costs. He insists decisions where to build them should be made exclusively by local governments.
Florida Governor Democratic candidate David Jolly
- Party: Democratic
- Current position: Political pundit, former Republican congressman
- Age: 53
- Family: Wife Laura, two children
- Running mate: Gwen Graham, former assistant secretary of education (2021-2025), former U.S. representative from Florida’s 2nd congressional district (2015-2017) and candidate for governor (2018)
- Background: Jolly was born in Dunedin, Florida. He earned a bachelor’s degree from Emory University and a law degree from George Mason University. He worked as an aide to Republican U.S. Rep. Bill Young from 1995-2006. After working as a lobbyist, Jolly was elected to Congress in 2014 as a Republican, then lost to Charlie Crist and switched from the GOP to the Democratic Party.
- Money raised: $14.5 million (as of Sept. 27)
- On schools: Jolly wants to increase investment in public schools, boost teacher salaries and focus on improving neighborhood schools.
- On property taxes: Supports reforms to lower tax burden but only if essential services are protected. Backs providing targeted tax relief for first-time homebuyers and says elimination of property taxes cannot come at the cost of destroying city and county revenues.
- On home insurance: Favors creation of a state catastrophe fund that would remove hurricanes and other natural disasters from the private insurance market. Jolly says this could cut insurance premiums by 60%.
- On the environment: Wants to boost funding for climate change resilience, accept the science that the climate is changing and protect inland waters and oceans from pollution and other harms.
- On data centers: Wants a one-year state moratorium on all construction, saying Florida’s electrical grid and water ecosystems cannot sustain their massive demands.
John Pacenti is the Government Impact Reporter for The USA TODAY NETWORK-FLORIDA. You can get all of Florida’s best content directly in your inbox each weekday by signing up for the free newsletter, Florida TODAY, at https://palmbeachpost.com/newsletters.
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