Governor candidates Donalds, Jolly offer competing economic visions. Same stage, same questioner — but no debate

Republican Byron Donalds and Democrat David Jolly each promise to deliver a more affordable, prosperous Florida — but offer vastly different visions of how as governor they’d get the state to the economic promised land.

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In back-to-back appearances Wednesday at a daylong economic summit in Fort Lauderdale, Jolly touted his proposal for a state catastrophic insurance fund that would be a place for all Floridians to buy windstorm insurance coverage. He said it would drastically reduce one of the biggest cost burdens on residents.

Donalds said the Jolly plan would be catastrophically expensive, and later in the day his campaign released a second television ad eviscerating the idea of a government takeover of windstorm insurance, which it said would impose a “massive” yearly hurricane tax of $1,000 a family.

Jolly called that assertion a “lie.” Donalds said insurance costs are already coming down, which he said shows changes made in recent years by Republicans who run state government have started working.

The Republican nominee said he favors the proposed amendment to the state Constitution that would reduce property taxes for owner-occupied residential property. He said the state would, at least initially, help cushion the revenue reduction for affected local governments.

Donalds downplayed the warning of service cuts from local governments, including sheriffs, police and firefighters.

The Democratic nominee said he anticipates — a term he used several times on Wednesday — voting against the proposal, which he would reduce services people depend on and require the state to clean up damage he said would result if the amendment passes.

“I will respect whatever voters decide. It will create a crisis, and the question is, who do you trust to manage that crisis when it happens?” Jolly said.

Both candidates said property taxes and the system of homestead exemptions needs to be changed and people need relief from property taxes.

A minor area of agreement: Both said the Florida Taxation and Budget Reform Commission should do a thorough examination of the state’s property tax system and recommend changes. The commission, which is convened every 20 years, will begin its work in 2027, after this year’s election.

Close, but apart

The candidates appeared at the Sunshine Economy Summit, presented by WLRN Public Media and the Greater Fort Lauderdale Alliance economic development agency.

With less than six weeks until Election Day, the gubernatorial candidates’ appearances Wednesday in Fort Lauderdale were unusual, in that Donalds and Jolly appeared on the same stage but never crossed paths as they separately faced questions from WLRN CEO Tom Hudson, a longtime journalist specializing in business and economics.

Jolly went first, and as he was exiting at the back of the room Donalds entered at the front.

They may not get any closer after Jolly ruled out debates.

Donalds termed Jolly’s debate decision “silly. Literally we were here. We could have set up a third chair and done it, but it is what it is.” He said it’s important for voters to “just hear the contrast between both of us” — but also suggested debates aren’t as important as they may have been a generation ago.

“With social media being what it is today, voters have an opportunity to hear very clearly from just about any candidate they want to hear from,” Donalds said.

“He said something about how I lied about him — which is a lie by the way — and so he doesn’t want to debate. Well, that’s what debates are for, to clarify all that stuff,” Donalds said.

Jolly said his decision won’t change. “I just promise you, for me this is a moment bigger than politics. We’ve got to change our politics in the country. If I thought debates provided a way to do that, sure, I would do it. I made the decision. It’s final. I’m not doing it.”

Trump factor

Florida has become increasingly Republican in recent years, and the state’s voters haven’t elected a Democratic governor in more than three decades. But independent analysts are giving Jolly — a former Tampa Bay congressman who went from Republican to independent to Democrat — more of a chance at winning than they did several months ago.

The leading nonpartisan analyses — from Cook Political Report, Inside Elections and Sabato’s Crystal Ball at the University of Virginia’s Center for Politics — now all have the Donalds-Jolly contest in recent weeks to “lean” Republican instead of “likely” or “solid” Republican.

President Donald Trump’s early endorsement of Donalds, currently a Gulf Coast member of Congress, helped him cruise to the Republican nomination, similar to what Trump’s endorsement did for Gov. Ron DeSantis’ 2018 campaign.

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Speaking to reporters after the economic forum, Donalds said he doesn’t “buy into that narrative” that Trump’s declining popularity is dragging down Republican candidates as the midterm elections draw closer.

During the forum, and after, Donalds said his campaign’s move to scrub its website of a range of materials highlighting his support for and support from Trump was meaningless. The removal of the Trump material was first reported by the Miami Herald.

Donalds said his campaign long planned to change its website focus as the general electron approached and said it had nothing to do with Trump’s sagging popularity. As the war in Iran has dragged on, with resulting high gasoline prices, voters are becoming more disenchanted with the president. Donalds said he, too, hopes the war ends soon.

“This is kind of the weirdest story I’ve ever seen in this entire political cycle. We were planning to make our website updates, like we planned to for, really two months coming out of the primary,” he said. “Now considering all of the hubbub about the change, I think it’s probably driven a lot of traffic to the website. We’re happy about that, because we want the people of Florida to see our policies in detail.”

With the economy the main focus of the day, Donalds said Republicans could be trusted to improve affordability, something shown by the way they’ve operated state government. And he said the national picture is more complicated, asserting that policies of former President Joe Biden, who left office in January 2025, are largely responsible for economic problems.

“Nationally, what we’re having to still work our way out of is the terrible economic conditions from the Biden administration,” Donalds said.

The two candidates also disagree on the DeSantis legacy.

Donalds, who has had an uneasy relationship with DeSantis, said he wants to build on what he sees as accomplishments. He said the term-limited governor has created a strong foundation.

Jolly said he would reverse many DeSantis priorities, starting with vastly different kinds of gubernatorial appointments.

He said he’d fire DeSantis’ controversial surgeon general, Dr. Joseph Ladapo, who has proposed scaling back required childhood vaccinations. He said he’d bring on an education commissioner who looks out for the needs of teachers as well as students. He said he would change state utility regulators. And he said he would reverse DeSantis’ changes to the state university system to renew emphasis on the state’s economy, not conservative political ideology.

Immigration

Donalds said he would continue the state policy of requiring Sheriff’s Offices and police departments to have so-called 287(g) agreements that empower officers and deputies to perform some federal immigration functions.Donalds said he would review, but did not commit to renewing, the DeSantis emergency orders that have allowed use of state emergency funds for immigration enforcement, including operation of the now-closed detention center known as Alligator Alcatraz.

He said it might not need to be continued because Congress has appropriated more funding for the Department of Homeland Security and the Trump administration has already deported many people who had been in the U.S. illegally.

Donalds said he disagreed with his fellow Republican member of Congress, U.S. Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar of Miami, who recently told Trump some of his immigration enforcement has gone too far. “I disagree with Maria. I think what went too far in this country is when there was no enforcement at all.”

Jolly said he would not renew the emergency orders. And Jolly said he would end the state mandate for 287(g) agreements.

He said Florida residents shouldn’t be denied due process during immigration efforts, which means officers need to show judicial warrants for their actions. And he said requirements that they show their faces and badges are “reasonable. That’s what we expect of local law enforcement as well.”

Philosophy, priorities

“I think Florida, we are in a position of being the best state in America. I truly believe that,” Donalds said. “People go to a jurisdiction where public policy is at its best. Conversely, people leave a jurisdiction where public policy is at its worst. This is why you’ve seen more Americans move to Florida than any other state in the country”

Donalds said his “mission is to make sure that Florida remains No. 1 while addressing some of the key issues impacting everybody. Insurance, housing costs, making sure young people can get into the game, not just of home ownership, but having a high-paying job where they can put food on the table and a roof over their head. And that just doesn’t happen by accident. It takes consistent leadership over time to see those things become a reality.”

Jolly offered a more sobering outlook.

“The reality is I think we’re a nation that’s broken. I think we’re a state that’s broken. You can see it, sure, in a culture that’s more divided than ever before. Our politicians tell us if we hate each other just enough, our lives will get better, and I think it’s wrong…. Whether it is an economy that’s breaking or whether it is a culture that is now more divided than ever before, I do think we all are called to do what’s within reach to try to fix the problems in front of us.”

“But there are kind of three values that I’ve always held in my politics. First, the economy should work for everyone. Economic growth is good, but if it’s not working for everybody, it’s not working. Second, we’ll let the private sector lead, but government fills in the gaps,” citing workforce and affordable housing, the insurance market, access to health care, public education, the environment, and safe communities.”

Political writer Anthony Man can be reached at [email protected] and can be found @browardpolitics on Bluesky, Threads, Facebook and Mastodon.

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