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Ongoing story / Florida

The 2026 Florida governor race: Byron Donalds vs. David Jolly

Overview · reviewed November 5, 2026

Republican Rep. Byron Donalds won Florida's 2026 race to succeed term-limited Gov. Ron DeSantis, defeating David Jolly, a former Republican congressman who ran as a Democrat, and becoming the state's first Black governor-elect, according to CNN.[1][2] Donalds had the backing of President Donald Trump and DeSantis,[3][4] while Jolly said he would not debate him.[5] The Associated Press called the race at 9:09 p.m. Eastern in what one report described as a closer-than-expected contest.[1]

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Donalds had the backing of President Donald Trump and DeSantis,[3][4] while Jolly said he would not debate him.[5] The Associated Press called the race at 9:09 p.m. Eastern in what one report described as a closer-than-expected contest.[1]

Coverage over time

Share of tracked outlets · weekly (UTC)

Week of 2025-02-17 (UTC): 4%, 8 of 194 tracked outlets (3 left, 2 center, 3 right)Week of 2025-02-24 (UTC): 10%, 19 of 197 tracked outlets (4 left, 6 center, 9 right)Week of 2025-03-03 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2025-03-10 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2025-03-17 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2025-03-24 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2025-03-31 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2025-04-07 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2025-04-14 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2025-04-21 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2025-04-28 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2025-05-05 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2025-05-12 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2025-05-19 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2025-05-26 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2025-06-02 (UTC): 6%, 12 of 189 tracked outlets (4 left, 5 center, 3 right)Week of 2025-06-09 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2025-06-16 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2025-06-23 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2025-06-30 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2025-07-07 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2025-07-14 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2025-07-21 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2025-07-28 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2025-08-04 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2025-08-11 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2025-08-18 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2025-08-25 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2025-09-01 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2025-09-08 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2025-09-15 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2025-09-22 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2025-09-29 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2025-10-06 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2025-10-13 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2025-10-20 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2025-10-27 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2025-11-03 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2025-11-10 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2025-11-17 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2025-11-24 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2025-12-01 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2025-12-08 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2025-12-15 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2025-12-22 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2025-12-29 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2026-01-05 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2026-01-12 (UTC): 5%, 10 of 191 tracked outlets (2 left, 3 center, 5 right)Week of 2026-01-19 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2026-01-26 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2026-02-02 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2026-02-09 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2026-02-16 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2026-02-23 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2026-03-02 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2026-03-09 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2026-03-16 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2026-03-23 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2026-03-30 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2026-04-06 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2026-04-13 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2026-04-20 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2026-04-27 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2026-05-04 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2026-05-11 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2026-05-18 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2026-05-25 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2026-06-01 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2026-06-08 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2026-06-15 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2026-06-22 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2026-06-29 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2026-07-06 (UTC): 1%, 5 of 560 tracked outlets (2 left, 2 center, 1 right)Week of 2026-07-13 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2026-07-20 (UTC): under 1%, 2 of 562 tracked outlets (0 left, 0 center, 2 right)Week of 2026-07-27 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2026-08-03 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2026-08-10 (UTC): 2%, 12 of 545 tracked outlets (5 left, 2 center, 5 right)Week of 2026-08-17 (UTC): 5%, 21 of 464 tracked outlets (6 left, 7 center, 8 right)Week of 2026-08-24 (UTC): 2%, 9 of 466 tracked outlets (2 left, 5 center, 2 right)Week of 2026-08-31 (UTC): 1%, 5 of 475 tracked outlets (0 left, 2 center, 3 right)Week of 2026-09-07 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2026-09-14 (UTC): under 1%, 2 of 480 tracked outlets (1 left, 1 center, 0 right)Week of 2026-09-21 (UTC): 1%, 3 of 479 tracked outlets (0 left, 1 center, 2 right)Week of 2026-09-28 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2026-10-05 (UTC): 1%, 3 of 479 tracked outlets (0 left, 2 center, 1 right)Week of 2026-10-12 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2026-10-19 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2026-10-26 (UTC): 1%, 5 of 473 tracked outlets (0 left, 3 center, 2 right)Week of 2026-11-02 (UTC): 7%, 35 of 471 tracked outlets (9 left, 14 center, 12 right)Week of 2026-11-09 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outlets, so far

LeftCenterRightLighter bar: this week so far

Each bar is the share of the outlets on our Left / Center / Right rating scale that we tracked publishing that week which carried reporting on this story, split by the outlets' ratings. We track more outlets now than in the archive, so a share keeps earlier and later weeks comparable. An outlet counts once a week however much it published, and outlets in one ownership or syndication group count as one on each side they appear on. A rating describes the outlet, not the report. A gap means no such reports were collected that week, not that nothing was reported anywhere. Weeks run Monday to Sunday in UTC, so a report published on a Sunday evening in US Eastern time counts in the next week. 2 more outlets off the scale (not rated, or outside the left-right graphs) also reported; they are not in this chart. See them.

Weekly counts, outlets and reports (15 weeks with coverage)
Outlets on the rating scale that carried this story each week, of the outlets tracked that week, newest first
Week of (UTC)LeftCenterRightOf trackedShareReceipts
Nov 2, 20269141235 of 4717%
Oct 26, 20260325 of 4731%
Oct 5, 20260213 of 4791%
Sep 21, 20260123 of 4791%
Sep 14, 20261102 of 480under 1%
Aug 31, 20260235 of 4751%
Aug 24, 20262529 of 4662%
Aug 17, 202667821 of 4645%
Aug 10, 202652512 of 5452%
Jul 20, 20260022 of 562under 1%
Jul 6, 20262215 of 5601%
Jan 12, 202623510 of 1915%
Jun 2, 202545312 of 1896%
Feb 24, 202546919 of 19710%
Feb 17, 20253238 of 1944%

Latest coverage

The newest reporting in this story's record.

  1. Nov 2, 2026 · first reported · Headline from WFLA

    DeSantis weighs in on Donalds' win; says Governor-elect has chance to succeed

Background

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis discussed his wife, Casey DeSantis, as a possible successor in February 2025 and criticized Trump's preferred candidate, Rep. Byron Donalds.[6] Lt. Gov. Jay Collins entered the Republican race in January 2026.[7] Donalds, running with Trump's endorsement, won the August 18 primary with about 48% of the vote to Collins's 25%.[3] He chose state Sen. Bryan Avila as his running mate[8] and received DeSantis's endorsement in September.[4]

Read the full background (3 more paragraphs)

Donalds also faced a civil lawsuit during the campaign. Collier County school board member Kelly Mason sued him in July, alleging that he had threatened and intimidated her during a 2022 confrontation in a Naples grocery store. His campaign played down the suit.[9]

David Jolly represented a Tampa Bay district in Congress as a Republican from 2014 to 2017 before becoming an independent and then a Democrat. He entered the governor's race in June 2025[10] and won more than 60% of the vote in the August Democratic primary.[11]

Republicans entered the general election with large advantages. A September 18 Tampa Bay Times report put Republicans' advantage over Democrats at 1.55 million active registered voters and said Donalds had raised eight times as much money as Jolly.[12] Jolly announced in September that he would not debate Donalds, saying, "You can't debate a liar." The Tampa Bay Times reported that a governor's race without a debate would be Florida's first since 1974.[5]

Supporting stories (12)
  1. Republican Byron Donalds wins Florida governor’s race
  2. Byron Donalds, David Jolly to face off in Florida governor's race
  3. Trump-endorsed Rep. Byron Donalds easily wins Florida GOP gubernatorial primary
  4. Florida governor's race: DeSantis backs Byron Donalds as Republicans rally in Tampa
  5. Democratic nominee for Florida governor David Jolly declines debates with Byron Donalds
  6. DeSantis promotes his wife as next Florida governor and takes a shot at Trump's pick
  7. Florida Lt. Gov Jay Collins jumps into Sunshine State gubernatorial race to succeed Ron DeSantis
  8. Byron Donalds picks state Sen. Bryan Avila as running mate in Florida governor’s race
  9. Florida gubernatorial candidate Byron Donalds sued for alleged 2022 assault
  10. Former GOP Rep. David Jolly running for Florida governor as a Democrat
  11. 3 reasons why David Jolly could win Florida’s governor’s race
  12. Can David Jolly win Florida’s governor race? Possibly, say handicappers

The full record

Each date is when an update was first reported.

All 17 recorded updates

November 2026

  1. Republican Byron Donalds wins Florida governor’s raceHeadline from Cape Coralbreeze · 37 outlets

October 2026

  1. Gubernatorial candidates Byron Donalds, David Jolly battle for Florida governorship as early voting ramps upHeadline from WSVN Miami · 5 outlets
  2. David Jolly Within Striking Distance of Byron Donalds: Florida PollHeadline from Newsweek · 3 outlets

September 2026

  1. Democratic nominee for Florida governor David Jolly declines debates with Byron DonaldsHeadline from NBC 6 South Florida · 5 outlets
  2. Can David Jolly win Florida’s governor race? Possibly, say handicappersHeadline from Tampa Bay Times · 1 outlet
  3. Florida governor's race: DeSantis backs Byron Donalds as Republicans rally in TampaHeadline from FOX 13 Tampa · 5 outlets

August 2026

  1. Byron Donalds picks state Sen. Bryan Avila as running mate in Florida governor’s raceHeadline from FOX 35 Orlando · 9 outlets
  2. 3 reasons why David Jolly could win Florida’s governor’s raceHeadline from Tampa Bay Times · 1 outlet
  3. Byron Donalds, David Jolly to face off in Florida governor's raceHeadline from CBS News · 9 outlets
  4. Trump-endorsed Rep. Byron Donalds easily wins Florida GOP gubernatorial primaryHeadline from New York Post · 14 outlets
  5. Mission Improbable: A onetime Republican is trying to prove Democrats can win in FloridaHeadline from Daily Journal · 12 outlets

July 2026

  1. 2026 Florida Governor’s Race Candidate Profiles: Byron DonaldsHeadline from Florida Daily · 2 outlets
  2. Florida gubernatorial candidate Byron Donalds sued for alleged 2022 assaultHeadline from First Coast News · 5 outlets

January 2026

  1. Florida Lt. Gov Jay Collins jumps into Sunshine State gubernatorial race to succeed Ron DeSantisHeadline from FOX 13 Tampa · 10 outlets

June 2025

  1. Former GOP Rep. David Jolly running for Florida governor as a DemocratHeadline from Roll Call · 12 outlets

February 2025

  1. DeSantis promotes his wife as next Florida governor and takes a shot at Trump's pickHeadline from MyNorthwest · 5 outlets
  2. Rep. Byron Donalds, backed by Trump, announces run for Florida governorHeadline from CBS News · 19 outlets

Coverage & sources

Read the reports, see how much was collected over time, or compare outlets by political leaning.

Coverage & sources →