Donalds wins Florida governorship

Byron Donalds won the Florida gubernatorial race on Monday, according to an Associated Press call. The 48-year-old Republican defeated Democrat David Jolly in a contest that had drawn national attention due to the state's large unaffiliated voting population.

Donalds will serve as Florida's first Black governor. His victory came despite a broader Republican discontent with President Donald Trump over gas prices and the war with Iran. Trump, who backed Donalds, had called the candidate a rising star in the party after he switched from the Democratic Party in 2010.

The race featured a strong financial campaign by Donalds, who previously spent most of his career in the finance industry. He served two terms in the U.S. House of Representatives and two terms in the Florida House. During the campaign, Donalds campaigned on affordability, including inflation, housing, and insurance costs. He also pledged to continue the conservative policies of outgoing Governor Ron DeSantis.

DeSantis, who remained popular in Florida, joined Donalds on the trail. Although polls showed Trump was less popular in Florida than DeSantis earlier this year, Donalds rallied with the president just days before the election. In September, Donalds had temporarily removed prominent displays of Trump's name from his campaign website, a move that appeared to distance him from the president.

David Jolly, 54, campaigned on a "believe in better" slogan. He focused on housing, inflation, gas prices, and the rapid growth of AI data centers. Jolly criticized Donalds for accepting campaign contributions from the data center industry, referring to him as "data center Donalds." Donalds had introduced legislation this summer requiring data centers to generate their own power and water.

Jolly served in Congress as a Republican before leaving the party in 2018. He changed his registration to no-party affiliation and then switched to the Democratic Party last year. His career has largely focused on law, lobbying, and television political analysis.

The state has approximately 1.5 million more registered Republicans than Democrats, alongside 3.3 million unaffiliated voters. Polls throughout the campaign indicated a close race, with Donalds holding a slight advantage for much of the period.