Byron Donalds wins Florida governor by 1.3 points, becoming the state's first Black governor

Republican Byron Donalds won Florida's governor's race on Tuesday, beating Democrat David Jolly in the contest to replace term-limited Gov. Ron DeSantis. The Associated Press called it shortly after 9 p.m. ET, and NPR reported that Donalds will become Florida's first Black governor. WUSF adds that he will be the nation's first elected Black Republican governor, and that he is due to be sworn in as the state's 47th governor on January 5.

The numbers from the state

The Florida Division of Elections' unofficial election-night site (Florida Election Watch) showed this tally when we checked it on the morning of November 4:

That is a lead of 107,721 votes, or 1.3 points. Earlier counts differ slightly because they are snapshots: WUSF cited a 108,481-vote gap with 99% counted, and WFTV reported a 101,832-vote lead at 98% of precincts. All of it is unofficial until counties and the state certify. WFTV reports a machine recount is triggered at a margin of 0.5 points or less; on the state's total that would be about 41,300 votes, so this race is well outside it.

How close it was, compared with last time

NPR described the race as closely watched, with polls showing a tight contest favoring Donalds for much of the campaign. Florida has about 1.5 million more registered Republicans than Democrats, NPR noted, and 3.3 million unaffiliated voters. Against that, a 1.3-point win is a sharp narrowing from 2022, when WUSF says DeSantis won reelection by more than 19 points.

NPR also tied the result to a national backdrop in which Republicans have been growing unhappy with President Trump over gas prices and the war with Iran. Donalds was backed early by Trump and rallied with him days before the vote, but NPR reported he took prominent displays of Trump's name off his campaign website in September, and that polls earlier this year showed Trump less popular in Florida than DeSantis.

What the candidates said

In his victory speech, Donalds said Trump had called to congratulate him. As quoted by WUSF: "I want you to hear from Florida that we are still red. Mr. President, I also want to tell you thank you for your support and thank you for being in my corner." Of the outgoing governor he said: "Gov. DeSantis has done a great job leading Florida these last eight years. We are going to make sure that Florida remains the very best state in all of America." WUSF says Donalds also described a concession call from Jolly. The full text of the speech was not available to us, so we quote only what WUSF printed.

Jolly, speaking to supporters, pointed to his own showing. WUSF quotes him: "To come up with 48 or 49 percent in a state where our own party only has 29 percent of the voters means that we have a coalition. We have a coalition that has emerged." He also said, in the same coverage: "we have people who are struggling."

The campaign's business issues

Both candidates ran on cost of living. NPR says Donalds campaigned on inflation, housing and insurance and promised to continue DeSantis's conservative policies, while Jolly focused on housing, inflation, gas prices and the boom in AI data centers, calling his opponent "data center Donalds" over campaign contributions from the industry. NPR notes Donalds introduced legislation this summer that would require data centers to generate their own power and water.

For Florida business owners, those are the live questions in the new administration: property insurance costs, housing costs, and how the state handles large power and water users. We have not found any signed policy yet, and a governor-elect's campaign promises are not law. Our earlier reporting on this year's homeowners' insurance rate filings is here.

What we could not verify

We could not retrieve results for the Florida legislature or ballot amendments from a primary source, so we say nothing here about them. County-level returns and the certified total will come from the Division of Elections after the canvass. Our totals are the unofficial election-night figures and may change.

Sources: Florida Division of Elections unofficial results (floridaelectionwatch.gov, checked November 4, 2026); NPR, November 3, 2026; WUSF, November 3, 2026; WFTV, November 3, 2026. Race call by the Associated Press as reported by those outlets. This is news reporting, not investment advice.