Byron Donalds projected to win Florida governor election — The Hill

Republican Congressman Byron Donalds is projected to win the Florida gubernatorial election in the United States. As The Hill reports, Decision Desk HQ projects his victory over Democratic Party candidate David Jolly.

Preliminary results

As of 8:30 p.m. Tuesday, with 93.4% of votes counted, Donalds was leading Jolly by 0.8 percentage points. Donalds has represented Florida's 19th congressional district in the U.S. House of Representatives since 2021 and has been elected to Congress three times.

In August, he won the Republican Party primary, defeating Florida Lieutenant Governor Jay Collins by more than 20 percentage points. Jolly was previously a Republican and represented Florida's 13th district in the House of Representatives for three years in the 2010s.

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DeSantis' successor

Donalds is expected to succeed Republican Governor Ron DeSantis in January, as DeSantis could not run for another term due to term limits. The governor-elect is set to be sworn in on January 8.

If the projection is confirmed, Donalds will become the first Black governor in Florida's history and the second Black governor of a state south of the Mason–Dixon line. Florida state legislator Brian Avila will become lieutenant governor. During the campaign, Donalds was supported by U.S. President Donald Trump, while DeSantis formally endorsed his fellow party member in September, after his nomination victory.