A Republican attempting to become Florida’s first Black governor faces a crowded field Tuesday while Democrats wage primary battles for a reduced pool of left-leaning seats under redrawn congressional maps.
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U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds is banking on President Donald Trump ’s endorsement in hopes of securing the Republican nomination and advance to the fall election. His opponents include Lt. Gov. Jay Collins and political newcomer James Fishback.
Who is Byron Donalds?
Donalds in February announced that he was entering the 2026 race to succeed Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who is ineligible to seek another term after eight years in office.
Donalds entered the race with President Donald Trump’s endorsement. Donalds has been a frequent Trump surrogate and was on the short list to be his vice presidential running mate during the 2024 presidential campaign.
His campaign website said he is “committed to implementing President Trump’s agenda to Make America Great Again.”
Donalds worked in finance as a credit analyst and portfolio manager before he was elected to the Florida House of Representatives in 2016.
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He has been a member of the U.S. House of Representatives since 2021.
If he wins the general election in November, Donalds would be Florida’s first Black governor. There have been three elected Black governors in U.S. history until now. Yet the 47-year-old Donalds is more likely to tout his conservative credentials than the possibility of joining that select group.
He promises to push tax cuts, overhaul Florida’s insurance regulations to lower consumer costs and seek greater price transparency from health care providers.
“The people of Florida want to make sure that the Florida dream is alive and well into the future,” he said recently. “Affordability is a problem for all Floridians. It doesn’t matter what your politics are. It doesn’t matter what the color of your skin is.”
Trump has had an inconsistent record on picks for governor in primaries this year, and a strong showing by Donalds would leave him, and Republicans in general, in a more commanding position for November. Though DeSantis coasted to reelection in 2022, he squeaked into office in 2018 by little more of 32,000 ballots out of 8.1 million cast.