Republican Rep. Byron Donalds has been elected Florida's first Black governor, defeating Democrat David Jolly in the November 3 midterm election and extending the GOP's nearly three-decade hold on the Governor's Mansion.
Donalds captured 50.1% of the vote to Jolly's 48.7% with 99% of precincts reporting, a margin of about 118,000 votes, according to Fox News Decision Desk and AP figures. The Associated Press called the race at 9:11 p.m. Eastern on Tuesday.
His victory makes him Florida's first Black governor in 180 years of statehood, the nation's first elected Black Republican governor, and the first Black governor elected in the Deep South.
Before Tuesday, only three Black politicians had ever been elected governor in U.S. history — Douglas Wilder of Virginia, Deval Patrick of Massachusetts and Wes Moore of Maryland — all Democrats.
Donalds, 48, a staunch ally of President Donald Trump who represents Southwest Florida in Congress, will succeed Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, who was term-limited and could not seek a third consecutive term. Trump endorsed Donalds early, and Donalds thanked Trump in his victory speech.
Speaking to supporters at the Hard Rock Hotel in Hollywood, Florida, Donalds struck a unity note. "Even if you didn't vote for me, you have my word that I will be your governor, too," he said.
Jolly, a former Republican congressman who switched parties and ran a centrist campaign, was considered a competitive challenger in a state where Democrats hoped to capitalise on Trump's record-low national approval rating. But Donalds overcame a slight deficit in early voting by outpacing Democrats on Election Day by 600,000 votes, relying on the Republican 1.5-million voter registration firewall.
Donalds amassed $176 million in campaign donations fuelled by billionaires and the state's most powerful industries including energy, private prisons and real estate. He has promised to continue DeSantis's policies on education, deregulation and immigration.
Florida has not elected a Democrat as governor since 1994. Donalds will be sworn in on January 5, 2027, the first Tuesday after the first Monday in January under the Florida Constitution.
The win bucked a national blue wave that saw Democrats retake Congress and elect historic firsts elsewhere, including Keisha Lance Bottoms as the first Black woman governor in Georgia.
