Byron Donalds Wins Florida Governorship, Becomes State's First Black Governor
The Republican candidate defeated Democrat David Jolly by 150,000 votes in the Tuesday election.
By Ricardo Alvarez ·
Byron Donalds won the race for Florida governor on Tuesday.
Projections from Fox News and NBC declared him the victor over Democratic challenger David Jolly. With more than 98 percent of votes counted, Donalds leads by 150,000 votes.
Donalds will replace Ron DeSantis in January. DeSantis finishes his second term and cannot run for a third. The new governor served as a U.S. Representative for the past six years. He aligns with the Make America Great Again movement and is close to President Donald Trump.
This victory makes Donalds the fifth consecutive Republican governor in Florida since 1998. He will be the first Black person to lead the state. He is also the first Black governor elected under the Republican Party label in the nation.
Only three other Black men have won statewide governor races in the United States. Douglas Wilder won in Virginia from 1990 to 1994. Deval Patrick governed Massachusetts from 2007 to 2015. Wes Moore has held the office in Maryland since 2023.
In a related result, Keisha Lance Bottoms won the governorship in Georgia. She becomes the first Black woman elected to that post in the United States. Voters across the country cast ballots for all House seats, one third of Senate seats, and various state and local offices.
