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.<\/p>\n
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. \u2014 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.<\/p>\n
The race on Nov. 3 will be between Trump-backed Republican Byron Donalds and former GOP congressman-turned-Democrat David Jolly.<\/p>\n
Tuesday night, party-affiliated voters across the state of Florida cast their ballots<\/a> to select their candidates. Republicans chose Byron Donalds<\/a> as their nominee. Democrats voted for David Jolly<\/a> as the contender who will attempt to become the first governor from the Democratic Party in Florida this century.\u00a0<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n
According to preliminary votes<\/a>, 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.<\/p>\n Donalds’ victory within the party secured his name on the Nov. 2026 ballot.<\/p>\n “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.<\/p>\n
\nByron Donalds, Republican candidate for Florida governor <\/p>\n