Byron Donalds Becomes Florida's First Black Governor, Says State Is Still Red

Photo: Rebecca Blackwell/AP via Bastillepost

Florida has its first Black governor, and he made sure his first message went straight to Donald Trump. Republican Byron Donalds beat Democrat David Jolly on Tuesday, and told a cheering crowd in Hollywood that Florida was still red, even on a night when Democrats were winning almost everywhere else.

Donalds, a 48 year old congressman and close Trump ally, won with 50.05 percent of the vote to Jolly's 48.69 percent, according to unofficial Florida Division of Elections results reported by local media, a margin of about 112,000 votes with almost all precincts counted. The results are still unofficial until they are certified, but the Associated Press called the race for Donalds on election night.

"Mr. President, I want you to hear from Florida that we are still red," Donalds told supporters, as Al Jazeera reported. He thanked Trump for his support and said the president was among the first people to call him after the result was decided. He also thanked Jolly, who called to congratulate him.

The win is historic twice over. Donalds becomes Florida's first Black governor, and the first Black Republican elected governor in American history. Before Tuesday, only three Black candidates had ever won a governor's race in the United States, and none had served at the same time.

That changed in a single night. As USA Today reported, Democrat Keisha Lance Bottoms won in Georgia to become the first Black woman governor in US history, a story we covered here, while Democrats David Crowley in Wisconsin and Aaron Ford in Nevada also won, along with Maryland Governor Wes Moore's re-election. Five Black governors will now serve at the same time, a first.

For Florida, the result also shows how solidly red the state has become. Democrats have not won the governor's mansion there since 1994, and Republicans have won every gubernatorial election since 1998. Donalds succeeds term limited Governor Ron DeSantis, who has led the state for eight years, and he praised DeSantis on election night, saying Florida would stay the best state in America.

On the campaign trail, Donalds talked most about the cost of living. He promised to make Florida more affordable, cut prescription prices and taxes, bring down insurance rates and tackle housing costs. He had Trump's full endorsement and a far bigger campaign fund than Jolly, a former Republican congressman who switched to the Democrats and ran as a centrist, but the race was still closer than many expected, a sign that even in Florida, high prices were hurting the party in power.

That is what makes his win stand out from the rest of the night. While Democrats took control of Congress, as we reported in our House and Senate reports, and Gina Hinojosa became Texas's first Hispanic woman governor, a story we covered here, Florida went the other way. Donalds kept the state in Republican hands and gave Trump a rare bright spot on an otherwise bleak night for his party.

He spoke about that history himself before the vote, telling NBC News it was very special. "From a larger perspective, there's so much that has been talked about in politics over the last couple decades around race," he said. "I'm humbled to be in this position, but I think it says a lot more about the state [of Florida] than it does about me."

Sources

AP: Republican Byron Donalds is elected Florida's first Black governor

USA Today: The historic firsts of Election Day 2026

CNN: The historic firsts of the 2026 election

Al Jazeera: We are still red, Florida's first Black governor upon win

Donalds takes office in January 2027, when he will succeed Ron DeSantis as Florida's governor.

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