The former president Bill Clinton will travel to Florida next week to support the Democratic candidate for governor David Jolly, in what will be his first public campaign appearance in the 2026 midterm elections.
Clinton will join Jolly on Tuesday, October 20, for an interfaith evening event in Hollywood, Florida, exactly two weeks before Election Day and just as early voting begins in parts of the state.
The visit reflects the Democratic Party's commitment to making a governorship competitive that the Republican Party has controlled uninterruptedly since 1999, when the Democrats last won with Lawton Chiles in 1994.
Jolly, the former Republican congressman who crossed the aisle and formally registered as a Democrat in April 2025, won the Democratic primary in August with 61% of the votes and presents himself as able to attract independents and dissatisfied Republicans.
His opponent is Republican Congressman Byron Donalds, endorsed by President Donald Trump, who, if he wins, would become the first African American governor of Florida and the first elected African American Republican to that position in the country's history.
Surveys show a tight race but with a Republican advantage: while Stetson University placed Donalds at 52% compared to Jolly's 41%, Change Research recorded a tie at 47%, and St. Pete Polls indicated a virtual tie.
The financial disadvantage for Jolly is significant: by the end of September, Donalds and his committees had raised 134.4 million dollars, compared to only 16.7 million for the Democratic candidate.
Clinton is not the only heavyweight that the Democrats are sending to Florida in these final weeks of the campaign.
Senator Bernie Sanders will make multiple stops this weekend with Democratic Senate candidate Angie Nixon, while Senators Chris Murphy and Ruben Gallego already campaigned with Nixon in Orlando this Wednesday.
Clinton also recently co-hosted a fundraising event in New York alongside the House Minority Leader, Hakeem Jeffries, for Representative Jared Moskowitz, who is running in a redistricted constituency that is considered highly competitive.
On the Republican side, Vice President JD Vance already made a stop in Lakeland earlier in October to support Donalds and Senator Ashley Moody.
Bethany Conrad, a professor at Florida Gulf Coast University, explained the value of these visits from national figures: “All these people coming to Florida have significant name recognition, especially among party loyalists, among Democrats and Republicans who will definitely be voting. They are familiar players, individuals to whom they regularly turn for information. Their presence can lend credibility to those campaigns.”
Early voting in Florida may begin as soon as October 19, with Election Day set for November 3, 2026.
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