{"id":1202,"date":"2025-10-14T03:08:07","date_gmt":"2025-10-14T03:08:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/1202\/"},"modified":"2025-10-14T03:08:07","modified_gmt":"2025-10-14T03:08:07","slug":"david-jolly-takes-bid-for-governor-to-reddest-stretches-of-increasingly-red-florida","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/1202\/","title":{"rendered":"David Jolly Takes Bid For Governor To Reddest Stretches Of Increasingly Red Florida"},"content":{"rendered":"

NAPLES, Fla. \u2015 David Jolly\u2019s long-shot plan to win the keys to the governor\u2019s mansion rests on a basic premise: that after seven years of Gov. Ron DeSantis and the return of President Donald Trump<\/a>, Floridians have had it.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would not be in this race, I pledge to you, if we did not believe that in this moment, we\u2019ve got the best shot we\u2019ve had in 30 years to change the direction of the state,\u201d he told more than 200 attendees who filled a meeting room at Collier County\u2019s south regional library Monday.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a moment when Florida voters are saying: \u2018We have had enough,\u2019\u201d he\u2019d told 400 Lee County Democrats<\/a> in Fort Myers a day earlier.<\/p>\n

Whether the recent Democratic convert and former Republican lawmaker\u2019s analysis is correct will not be known for another year, when voters choose a successor to term-limited DeSantis. Until then, Jolly \u2014 who at this point does not have a well-known Democratic opponent for the nomination \u2014 said he plans to campaign for votes in all 67 Florida counties, a strategy that has largely fallen out of favor with Democrats since the 1980s, when they had near-total control of state government.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve done 94 events around the state since I started running for governor. Ninety-four,\u201d he told a meet-and-greet session on Marco Island Monday night that attracted another 50 or so. \u201cI am leaving it all on the field.\u201d<\/p>\n

Naples and Marco Island were the final two of a half dozen events he held over the Columbus Day weekend in one of the most Republican corners of an increasingly Republican state: southwest Florida, counties that have not voted Democratic in decades. Naples, the site of his Monday afternoon visit, is the home of Republican lawmaker Byron Donalds, who with Trump\u2019s endorsement is likely to win the GOP nomination next August.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are in deep-red Naples, deep-red Collier County, and look at this turnout,\u201d Jolly, who is 52, exulted as he took the stage, and then acknowledged the area\u2019s reputation as a retirement haven. \u201cIt\u2019s great to be the youngest person in the room!\u201d<\/p>\n

Perhaps to set low expectations, Jolly explained up front that he is not a \u201cviral\u201d candidate and promised not to get too deep into policy discussions, then went on to deliver a 45-minute stump speech that appeared to keep his audience engaged throughout.<\/p>\n

\"DavidDavid Jolly, the likely Democratic nominee for Florida governor, takes questions from attendees to his town hall in Collier County on Monday.<\/p>\n

While Jolly followed the conventional wisdom that voters are most interested in pocketbook issues \u2014 \u201cThis is a state that is gripped by an affordability crisis\u201d \u2014 he also spoke easily about matters that many consultants advise Democrats to avoid.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re the home of culture wars that are giving people reason to pause and wonder whether or not Florida is a place where they feel welcome, whether their grandkids or kids feel welcome, whether your Canadian friends want to visit,\u201d he said Monday. \u201cAnd what my Republican friends really have never realized is culture wars have victims.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jolly, who is white and straight and married with young children, also defended DEI goals that have been vilified by both Trump and, at the state level, by DeSantis.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is not an attack on meritocracy to lift everybody up. It\u2019s an improvement of meritocracy to do that. We should welcome everybody, and it is OK to embrace diversity in this state,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Only at the end of his remarks, which he delivered without notes, did Jolly even mention Trump, who last November won Collier County by a 66-33 margin over Democrat Kamala Harris<\/a>. \u201cMany of you in this room now \u2015 you can look left and right \u2015 have Google<\/a>d Portugal,\u201d he said, referring to the trend of Americans seeking refuge from Trump\u2019s increasingly autocratic dictates.<\/p>\n

He pointed out that he was the sole Republican member of Congress to call on Trump to drop out of the presidential race after he promised a Muslim ban when he ran in 2016. \u201cI put my job as a Republican on the line to stand up to Donald Trump. I did that,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Nevertheless, he urged those inclined to support him to avoid even mentioning Trump to their Republican and independent friends and instead focus on the governor\u2019s race.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a race that allows an Andy Beshear to get elected in Kentucky, a race that allows Steve Bullock to get elected in Montana, and a race that allows David Jolly to get elected in the state of Florida,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is not an attack on meritocracy to lift everybody up. It\u2019s an improvement of meritocracy to do that. We should welcome everybody, and it is OK to embrace diversity in this state.\u201d<\/p>\n

– David Jolly<\/p>\n

Jolly, while clearly speaking primarily to people who were already inclined to support him, appeared to make a favorable impression.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe communicates well. He doesn\u2019t bloviate. He admits what he doesn\u2019t know. He talks about trying to find out where we\u2019re together and what we agree on, rather than why are we different,\u201d 78-year-old Michael Finkel, a retired doctor, said after the Naples visit. \u201cQuite refreshing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Retired sailmaker Carol Beers was in the audience the previous afternoon, when Jolly was the featured speaker at a fundraising luncheon for the Lee County Democratic Party<\/a> in Fort Myers. She said it was the first time she had heard him in person and came away impressed. \u201cPeople loved him,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Can that love from longtime party activists translate into winning a state in which the other party now has a 1.4 million registration advantage? On that point, Beers, who is 73, admits she\u2019s not sure. \u201cIf he can\u2019t do it, nobody can.\u201d<\/p>\n

Democrats have not won a governor\u2019s race in Florida since 1994, when Lawton Chiles barely defeated Jeb Bush. When the second son of President George H.W. Bush ran again four years later and won, it was the start of a streak that now stretches seven elections.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s more, Democrats have only come close twice in those 24 years. If there\u2019s a glimmer of hope for Democrats in that record, it could be Republican-turned-Democrat Charlie Crist\u2019s near win in 2014 against the incumbent Republican, Rick Scott.<\/p>\n

Crist, like Jolly, is also from Pinellas County in the Tampa Bay region and, like Jolly is doing now, ran as a centrist Democrat. Crist, though, had the advantage of five previous statewide runs, including one term in the governor\u2019s mansion from 2007-2011 as a moderate Republican.<\/p>\n

Don\u2019tBuyTheir Lies<\/p>\n

Your SupportFuelsOur Mission<\/p>\n

Your SupportFuelsOur Mission<\/p>\n

Shine a Light with Us<\/p>\n

As the current administration celebrates the shutdown as an opportunity to advance their agenda, no one is there to hold them accountable, but we are. Our reporting ensures truth stays in focus. Join us today.<\/p>\n

We remain committed to providing you with the unflinching, fact-based journalism everyone deserves.<\/p>\n

Thank you again for your support along the way. We\u2019re truly grateful for readers like you! Your initial support helped get us here and bolstered our newsroom, which kept us strong during uncertain times. Now as we continue, we need your help more than ever. We hope you will join us once again<\/a>.<\/p>\n

We remain committed to providing you with the unflinching, fact-based journalism everyone deserves.<\/p>\n

Thank you again for your support along the way. We\u2019re truly grateful for readers like you! Your initial support helped get us here and bolstered our newsroom, which kept us strong during uncertain times. Now as we continue, we need your help more than ever. We hope you will join us once again<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Support HuffPost<\/a><\/p>\n

Already contributed? Log in to hide these messages.<\/a><\/p>\n

Jolly has never run a statewide race before, which in Florida is a daunting task because of its vast size and 10 distinct media markets. Candidates must raise and spend tens of millions of dollars to reach the 10 million or so likely voters.<\/p>\n

To date, Jolly has raised about $2 million. Republican Donalds has raised more than 15 times as much so far, although Jolly\u2019s staff said Democratic money will likely flow if it appears by next summer that the race is winnable.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"NAPLES, Fla. \u2015 David Jolly\u2019s long-shot plan to win the keys to the governor\u2019s mansion rests on a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1203,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[445,1813,1812,28,30,29],"class_list":{"0":"post-1202","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-florida","8":"tag-byron-donalds","9":"tag-david-jolly","10":"tag-democratic-party","11":"tag-florida","12":"tag-florida-headlines","13":"tag-florida-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1202","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1202"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1202\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1203"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1202"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1202"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1202"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}