ORLANDO, Fla.-Rep. Byron Donalds, President Trump's staunch ally, was favored in a potentially history-making Republican contest in Florida to succeed Gov. Ron DeSantis, while a group of House lawmakers sought to fend off challenges in the president's adopted home state.
Florida's Tuesday primary offered a full slate of races for governor, the U.S. House and the Senate, providing a look at the impact of the Republicans' mid-decade redistricting plan and the president's influence in the state. Democrats have sought to make Florida more competitive as shifting population trends put a premium on boosting their performance in the nation's Sunbelt.
Once the country's most prized battleground and twice carried by former President Barack Obama, Florida has turned into a reliable Republican stronghold under Trump, who has made frequent visits to his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach as president. Republicans approved a mid-decade redistricting proposal in the spring in hopes of capturing up to four additional seats in Congress.
The primary was setting the stage for a Senate battle in which Republicans are expected to be favored. Sen. Ashley Moody (R., Fla.), who was appointed to the seat of Secretary of State Marco Rubio, is seeking to serve out the two years remaining in Rubio's term. Alex Vindman, a former Trump administration national security official who figured in the president's first impeachment, was seeking the Democratic nomination to challenge Moody.
The GOP currently holds a 20-7 edge in the Florida U.S. House delegation with one vacancy in a seat previously held by a Democrat. Several House races have garnered attention, including a central Florida GOP primary featuring scandal-plagued Rep. Cory Mills, and in South Florida, where centrist Democrat Rep. Jared Moskowitz faces a socialist opponent in the primary, and Democratic Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz is attempting to win a seat long held by Black lawmakers.
Donalds, 47, who has represented southwest Florida in Congress since 2021, wosuld become Florida's first Black governor if he wins in November.
Backed by Trump, he has dominated a large GOP primary field that included Lt. Gov. Jay Collins, former Florida House Speaker Paul Renner, and James Fishback, a far-right provocateur who drew criticism for racial attacks on Donalds.
The congressman, however, has been at odds with DeSantis, who declined to endorse Donalds during the primary, saying Donalds hadn't been part of the state's recent success. Casey DeSantis, the governor's wife, had considered running, but Trump endorsed Donalds in February 2025. Donalds had backed Trump in the 2024 GOP presidential primary against DeSantis.
Democrats have rallied behind former Rep. David Jolly, a onetime Republican congressman who broke with Trump in 2018 and joined the Democratic Party last year ahead of his campaign for governor. Jolly has chosen as his running mate Gwen Graham, a former congresswoman and the daughter of the late Democratic Sen. Bob Graham.
DeSantis, who unsuccessfully challenged Trump for the GOP presidential nomination in 2024, is serving his second and final term.
Trump, a longtime critic of mail-in voting, voted by mail ahead of the state GOP primary, a White House official said. The president has alleged that voting by mail contributes to widespread election fraud and his proposed SAVE America Act calls for eliminating mail-in ballots with some exceptions. Earlier this year, he also voted by mail in Florida's special elections. He hasn't been in Florida for months.
"As President Trump has said, the SAVE America Act has commonsense exceptions for Americans to use mail-in ballots for illness, disability, military, or travel-but universal mail-in voting should not be allowed because it's highly susceptible to fraud," White House spokeswoman Olivia Wales said.
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