Who won the 2026 Florida governor primary?

The race to succeed Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in November 2026 started with 17 people. Two secured their party’s nominations for governor on Tuesday.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — The Florida Primary Election results are in, and we finally know which two candidates will face off in November to become Florida’s next governor.

The race on Nov. 3 will be between Trump-backed Republican Byron Donalds and former GOP congressman-turned-Democrat David Jolly.

Tuesday night, party-affiliated voters across the state of Florida cast their ballots to select their candidates. Republicans chose Byron Donalds as their nominee. Democrats voted for David Jolly as the contender who will attempt to become the first governor from the Democratic Party in Florida this century.

Florida is a closed primary state. This means that non-affiliated voters were not able to vote for the nomination of partisan candidates. Registered Republicans or Democrats were only able to vote for candidates within their own parties.

Byron Donalds, Republican candidate for Florida governor

According to preliminary votes, as of 10 p.m. Tuesday, Byron Donalds obtained roughly 803,000 votes across the state, accruing around 48% of the vote. He was followed by current Lt. Governor Jay Collins, who got 25% of the Republican ballots that were cast. With this, Donalds also defeated James Fishback, Paul Renner, Bobby Williams, Rachel Rodriguez, Jim Holcomb, James Shaw, Arthur McCaffrey, Caneste Succe and Daniel Nokovich.

Donalds’ victory within the party secured his name on the Nov. 2026 ballot.

“The Florida dream to us is clear; it’s the promise that if you work hard, you can get ahead, own a home, raise your family and give your kids a better shot than you had without government holding you back,” Donalds said from Orlando after securing his nomination on Tuesday night.

David Jolly, Democratic candidate for Florida governor

Jolly, as of 10 p.m. Tuesday, had a major victory over the rest of his fellow Democratic Party candidates, accruing 61% of the party voters who participated in the Florida Primary. Jolly managed to get roughly 750,000 votes, followed by candidate Dayna Foster, who only got around 185,000, or roughly 15% of the party votes.

Dotie Joseph, Evelyn Castillo-Bach, Thomas Fernandez and Stephann Norman were the other Democratic Party candidates who ran for the nomination.

“We’re rising to this moment together,” Jolly said during a press conference after securing his nomination.

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