The Republican Byron Donalds has been declared the projected winner of the Florida gubernatorial election held this Tuesday, according to projections from Associated Press and NBC News Decision Desk, placing him ahead of the Democrat David Jolly in an extraordinarily tight contest.
«THANK YOU, FLORIDA! I am grateful beyond measure. As your Governor, I will give you everything I have,» stated Donalds on his social media.
"Let's make life in Florida more affordable. Let's keep our streets safe. Let's invest in our youth so they can achieve the Florida Dream that we all love so deeply. Florida is the envy of the nation. I will fight day and night to keep it that way and to elevate our state to even greater heights. God bless you, God bless Florida, and God bless America," he added.
With nearly 98% of the votes counted, Donalds accumulated 4,065,486 votes, equivalent to 50%, compared to Jolly's 3,963,591, which represented 48.74%. The difference was 101,895 votes, just 1.26 percentage points with 98% of the votes counted.
Donalds becomes the first African American governor of Florida, as reported by . Furthermore, the governorship of the state has remained in Republican hands continuously since January 1999. The Democrats have not held this office since 1994, when Lawton Chiles was reelected by less than two points.
Donalds will take office in January 2027 as the successor to Ron DeSantis, who was unable to run for a third consecutive term due to the state constitutional limit. “Florida sweeps again — congratulations to the state team,” stated DeSantis regarding the Republican victories.
The president Donald Trump supported Donalds from the beginning of the race. In February 2025, he publicly encouraged him with the message "Run, Byron, Run!" and in May 2026, he formalized his support on Truth Social with a "full and total endorsement," describing him as a "total winner." Both shared the stage at a campaign event in Fort Myers at the end of October.
To strengthen his commitment to the Cuban-American vote, Donalds chose state senator Bryan Ávila as his candidate for lieutenant governor during an event held at the Freedom Tower in Miami. Ávila, the son of Cuban exiles born in Hialeah, is a captain in the Florida National Guard and was recognized as the most conservative legislator in the state in 2024.
Pre-election polls were already indicating Donalds' lead among Cuban-Americans. According to the FIU Cuba Poll 2026, Donalds was ahead of Jolly among Cuban-Americans in Miami-Dade with 60% compared to 24%, while a poll from N+Univision/YouGov placed him at 51% against his rival's 42% within the same segment.
Jolly, a former Republican congressman who later joined the Democratic Party, won the Democratic primary with 61% of the votes and aimed to attract moderate voters. His campaign promised to pressure the Trump administration to expedite residency applications for Cubans with I-220A forms and suspend immigration cooperation agreements that allow the use of state resources to detain immigrants without criminal records. Regarding Cuba, Jolly was straightforward: "I want to see the Cuban regime fall."
The campaign focused on the cost of living, housing insurance, and immigration policy. Other candidates on the ballot included libertarian Scott Eckhard Jewett, with 37,039 votes (0.46%), and independent Frank J. Russo, with 22,741 votes (0.28%).
The results remained unofficial at the end of the election day; Florida's state certification still needs to be completed before Donalds can be officially declared the elected governor.
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