Former Republican Florida Rep. David Jolly, a staunch critic of President Donald Trump, announced Thursday that he is jumping into the state’s 2026 gubernatorial race as a Democrat.
Jolly announced his candidacy in a post to X, stating that Florida “is in crisis — not just a crisis of policy, not right versus left, but a crisis of right versus wrong.” Florida Republican Rep. Byron Donalds — the Trump-endorsed frontrunner to win the Sunshine State’s GOP gubernatorial nomination — and the Florida Republican Party quickly shrugged off Jolly’s entry into the race.
The Republican-turned-independent-turned-Democrat, who served in Congress from 2014 until his defeat in 2017, has been a longtime critic of both Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and Trump. Jolly announced that he was exiting the Republican Party in 2018, the Tampa Bay Times reported. The former congressman has also risen to prominence for publicly denouncing Trump as a regular contributor to MSNBC in recent years.
Jolly also told Politico in an interview published Thursday that “this is a campaign that’s going to look and feel different on the inside and out.”
DeSantis is term-limited and thus cannot seek reelection to the governorship in 2026.
Donalds referred to Jolly as “an anti-Trump, radical leftist” in a post to X on Thursday. The Florida Republican added that the new Democrat is “completely out of touch with Florida’s voters and our values.”
“David Jolly is an anti-Trump, radical leftist who wants to raise your taxes, allow illegals to pour across our border, take school choice away from families, ban guns, and bring woke ideology to Florida,” Donalds wrote in the social media post. “He’s completely out of touch with Florida’s voters and our values. Florida is Trump Country, and I am proudly endorsed by President Trump to be Florida’s next Governor.”
Trump won Florida — which was regarded as swing state as recently as 2020 — by 13 percentage points in the 2024 Presidential Election.
“As Governor, I will fight side by side with President Trump to protect Florida families and Make America Great Again,” Donalds added.
Ahead of Jolly officially announcing his bid for governor on Thursday, Florida GOP Chairman Evan Power criticized the former GOP congressman in a June 2 statement, referring to him as a “flip-flopping political relic.”
“No matter the issue, David Jolly has been on all sides of it,” Power wrote. “Floridians won’t be swayed. Under Republican leadership, Florida enjoys low inflation, fiscal responsibility, and a thriving economy. School choice and parental rights are prioritized, and support for the rule of law is unmatched. We aren’t going backward with a flip-flopping political relic.”
“David Jolly has lost before, and he will lose again,” Power added. “Floridians won’t trust a slick opportunist who simply can’t be trusted. Jolly has no platform, no base, and no chance in Florida.”
This is not the first time a former Republican politician from the Tampa Bay Area mounted a long-shot bid for the state’s governorship. Former GOP Florida Gov. turned-Democratic Florida Rep. Charlie Crist ran for the governorship against DeSantis in the state’s 2022 gubernatorial election. DeSantis defeated Crist in a landslide, securing 59.4% of the vote to Crist’s 40%.
Notably, Crist and Jolly — who was a Republican at the time — ran against each other for Congress in 2016. In that race, Crist prevailed, defeating Jolly — the incumbent representing Florida’s St. Petersburg-based 13th Congressional District — by 4 points.
An April 25 press release from the Florida Republican Party, sent shortly after Jolly announced he was joining the Democratic Party, referred to the former congressman as “Charlie Crist 2.0.”
The release also referred to Florida State Sen. Jason Pizzo, who said in April that the Florida Democratic Party was “dead” before abruptly exiting the party. Pizzo confirmed in May that he will run for Florida’s governor’s mansion as an independent in 2026.
Jolly’s campaign and Donalds’ campaign did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller New Foundation’s request for comment.
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