Representative Byron Donalds secured the Republican nomination in Florida’s governor's race on Tuesday and is set to face off against Democratic former Representative David Jolly in the midterm elections in November. If Donalds wins in November, his wife, Erika Donalds, will become the state's first lady. Donalds defeated several other candidates in Tuesday's primary to win the GOP nomination in the governor's race.
He received 47.8 percent of the vote with 99 percent reporting, according to the . Lieutenant Governor Jay Collins received 25.2 percent of the vote, while investor James Fishback received 10.5 percent. Several other candidates received single-digit support.
Donalds has represented Florida’s 19th District—which includes Cape Coral, Fort Myers and Naples—since 2021 and has built a reputation as being a close ally to President Donald Trump, who endorsed his campaign. Prior to his election to Congress, Donalds also served in the Florida House of Representatives. He graduated from Florida State University and worked in the banking and finance industries of Southwest Florida, according to his official biography.
He grew up in Brooklyn, New York. Donalds will run against Jolly, who represented a Pinellas County-based district in the U.S. When in Congress, Jolly served as a Republican but became an independent in 2018 before switching to the Democratic Party last year amid disaffection with the GOP in the Trump era.
Erika Donalds has been involved in conservative political activism. She serves as the America First Policy Institute’s chair of education opportunity and has been an advocate for school choice. The couple married on March 15, 2003.
She graduated from Florida State University (FSU) in 2002 and Florida Atlantic University in 2006 with a Master of Accountancy, according to her official website. In 2017, she founded the Optima Foundation, which her website describes as a “nonprofit created to expand access to classical education through public charter schools across Florida.” It is now titled the Education Freedom Foundation. She previously worked as chief financial officer/chief compliance officer and partner at the investment management firm Dalton, Greiner, Hartman, Maher & Co., LLC, according to FSU.
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