Republican Byron Donalds, who is running for governor in Florida, has removed several references to President Donald Trump from his campaign website as polls show a tightening race against Democrat David Jolly. Donalds has aligned himself closely with Trump throughout his career and received Trump’s endorsement in the GOP primary, but now faces a potentially competitive race against Jolly, a former Republican who left the party over its embrace of Trump. Although Florida has become a more conservative state in recent election cycles, a flurry of recent polls pointed to a closer than expected race.
Trump won the state by 13 points in 2024, but Democrats believe his falling national approval rating could give them an opportunity to expand the electoral battleground in November to compete in more traditionally Republican states like Florida. Donalds' campaign has changed his website to remove several references to the president’s support for the Republican. As of September 22, the website leads with the slogan, “Fighting to defend the Florida dream,” showing a video of Donalds with his family at a campaign event.
It describes him as a “proven conservative fighter for Florida,” while also going into some of his positions on matters like affordability, healthcare and education. However, a September 3 screen grab of his homepage showed a different message. A banner across the top of the page asked his supporters to “Chip in to Support Trump Endorsed Byron Donalds,” with the phrase “Trump Endorsed” even being highlighted in red.
The page includes a photograph of Donalds with his wife, Erika Donalds, with the phrase “Trump-Endorsed Proven Conservative Fighter.” It also included a photograph of Trump with a quote from Trump’s endorsement of Donalds. In total, the webpage had five references to Trump’s endorsement. The updated page does not have any photograph with Trump.
References to the president are still present, but not as dominant. Trump’s endorsement is touted along a banner of several endorsements from other prominent conservatives including Elon Musk and House Speaker Mike Johnson. He also highlighted that he was a surrogate for Trump in the 2024 election in a section outlining his previous experience, but those were the only two references to the president.
The Miami Herald was the first to report the change. Donalds’ campaign has not addressed why the references to Trump were removed. Jolly responded to the change in a statement to Newsweek.
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