Byron Donalds says he’s the front-runner in the race for the Republican gubernatorial nomination, and that the party should coalesce behind him more than two months before the August 18 Primary.
He made this call for party unity Friday, hours after one of two major candidates announced he was ending his campaign because of a prostate cancer diagnosis.
“With the announcement of Jerry Demings dropping out of the Democrat primary for Governor, the general election starts today,” the Naples Republican said.
Donalds, who has raised $81 million so far, makes it clear he would rather deploy those resources in the General Election than in the Primary given that Democrats have a presumptive nominee in the wake of Demings’ departure from the campaign.
“The differences between David Jolly and myself could not be more stark. Mr. Jolly would end the Florida Dream and transform our state into another Virginia, Illinois, California, or New York. Millions of people have come to Florida to escape the craziness of blue state governance and they are not going back. Based upon these developments it is time for the Republican party to unite and focus on defending the successes of Governor DeSantis and keeping Florida free!”
Donalds cites his “COMPLETE and TOTAL endorsement” from President Donald Trump and notes that he is up by more than 40 points in multiple public polls as proof of his viability. He goes on to suggest that opponents haven’t proven strength that measures up and that he will communicate with potential voters, but not on a debate stage.
“All other candidates are in single digits. At this point, fighting amongst Republicans only helps the Democrats end the Florida Dream we all love and cherish. I will continue to travel the state and engage the voters directly. My campaign is committed to town halls, community meetings, business roundtables, and door knocking to take our message of conservatism and common sense directly to the people of Florida,” Donalds said.
Lt. Gov. Jay Collins and former House Speaker Paul Renner both insist that debates are necessary, meanwhile.
“Jay Collins is calling out Byron Donalds. Any stage. Any moderator. Any time. The callout is on the table — the only question left is whether Byron answers the bell, or keeps running,” reads the copy on The Collins Callout website, which was launched Friday.
The language on the site concedes that Donalds is the prohibitive front-runner, contrasting “no-show” Donalds with “challenger” Collins.
Renner goes farther, saying neither Collins nor Donalds is willing to debate him.
“Floridians deserve to see the differences between the candidates. Stop ducking and let’s get on stage,” Renner implored in a video posted to social media Friday.
Fundraising reports for Collins and Renner covering activity through May are due June 10, and those will give an indication of how much strength their campaigns have going into the stretch run. Through the last report that covered activity through the end of March, Renner had raised more than $6 million and Collins roughly $1.75 million.