Former Republican Congressman David Jolly on Thursday became the first prominent Democrat to enter the 2026 gubernatorial race, saying he can attract middle-ground voters who want leaders to address issues such as rising housing and property-insurance costs.
Jolly, 52, represented a Pinellas County district in Congress for nearly three years and more recently has been a cable-news political commentator. He hopes to become the first Democrat elected governor since Lawton Chiles won in 1994. Gov. Ron DeSantis cannot run again next year because of term limits.
Republicans control every statewide office in Florida, have supermajorities in the state House and Senate and continue expanding their voter-registration lead.
“If you’re a Republican, Democrat or independent, you’re facing an affordability crisis in the state of Florida that has you wondering if you can continue to live here, retire here, raise your kids here,” Jolly told the News Service of Florida. “Personally, I think Republican politicians in Tallahassee have contributed to this crisis, ignored it, won’t do anything about it, and I think there’s a coalition that’s demanding change.”
The Republican Party of Florida described Jolly’s announcement as “breaking News from Fantasyland.” It pointed to the GOP’s voter-registration lead and said Jolly had changed his views on issues such as health care and the Second Amendment.
“No matter the issue, David Jolly has been on all sides of it,” state Republican Chairman Evan Power said in a statement
Jolly entered a race that includes Congressman Byron Donalds, a Naples Republican who has drawn support from President Donald Trump. Speculation also continues to swirl around whether Florida First Lady Casey DeSantis and Agriculture Commissioner Wilton Simpson also will run for the GOP nomination.
Also, state Sen. Jason Pizzo of Sunny Isles Beach has indicated he plans to run without party affiliation, and big-name attorney John Morgan has floated the idea of running as a third-party candidate. Pizzo served as Senate Democratic leader before leaving the party this spring.
Jolly said he expects overreach, instability and damaging policies by Trump will help lead to a political environment for candidates to prioritize state concerns. And he anticipates Republicans will attack him for his positions on issues such as climate science and gun control.
“What would be inauthentic and a lie is to suggest I’ve never changed. That’s a failing candidate,” Jolly said. “It is a strength of our candidacy that I admit to changing and that I engage in conversations about why.”
Jolly, a former Washington, D.C. lobbyist who also worked as general counsel for Republican Congressman Bill Young, won a special congressional election in March 2014 after Young’s death. Jolly was re-elected that fall to a full term.
Initially he was among several Republicans, including then-Congressman Ron DeSantis who flirted with running for the U.S. Senate when then-Sen. Marco Rubio embarked on a failed run for president in 2016. When Rubio decided to seek re-election to the Senate, Jolly ran again for Congress and was defeated by Democrat Charlie Crist, another former Republican.
Before officially leaving the GOP in 2018, Jolly teamed with Democrat Patrick Murphy, another former Florida congressman, on a tour pushing for political common ground.
Jolly was the second prominent Democrat to announce plans this week to run for statewide office, after former state Sen. Jose Javier Rodriguez of Miami filed to run for attorney general.
–Jim Turner, Mike Exline, News Service of Florida
Judith G. Michaud says
I am so thrilled to hear this! He has our whole family’s vote! Awesome person, awesome candidate !
Me says
So, happy to read this, you have my vote.
JC says
Yep, going to lose hard next year. People don’t like flip floppers like pancakes.
Samuel L. Bronkowitz says
Oh great, a Republican
Deborah Coffey says
@ JC
On the contrary, we love people that have actually seen the light and act accordingly.
You’ve got my vote, David. It will be such a treat to have a fine, decent, ethical person that actually loves democracy in the governor’s seat.
Mike P says
Jolly joke…good luck!
David Schaefer says
We need to get these Trumpers out of this state they are useless I would vote for Jolly any day of the week…
Laurel says
JC: “People don’t like flip floppers…” so that means you don’t like Trump, who changed his party affiliation five times, and flip flops on tariffs daily, correct?
Then there is “”breaking News from Fantasyland.”” Isn’t it sad that partisans must make up false branding to influence us? Civil behavior simply doesn’t work, unless we reject it.
Jolly is the front runner for those who are no longer interested in the made up dramas, and prefer our governor works on things that really matter to us.
Just say'n says
Pretty bad when dems are pulling for a former republican that really wasn’t a republican ans rejected by republicans.You folks are really deep in the wilderness and I couldn’t be happier.Cant wait till a strong black republican and all MAGA is the next governor ,your gona loose your minds.Choke on that for a while.
Pierre Tristam says
So says the Republican who probably twice voted for Reagan–the former New Dealer Democrat who campaigned for Truman before GE zapped him into a reactionary. At least Jolly is going in the more decent direction.
JC says
You guys all forgetting one thing with regards to my comments: None of my progressive/leftist friends (including my other half) will vote for a former GOP member. When they found out that David Jolly is running as a Dem, they said pass since he was former GOP and not progressive enough.
And this is the problem of the FL Democrat Party at least in my opinion. You run too center and you lose the more progressive/left-leaning and might pick up more older/moderate voters. If you run too left you lose the more centerish/moderate older voters that vote more in elections but pick up younger voters who vote here and there. It is such a losing situation.
It is going to be worse once Rep Donald gets the GOP nom for governor. Bet he will get a lot more black votes to the GOP side next year than the Dem side.