ORLANDO, Fla. — Florida’s race to replace Ron DeSantis as governor in 2026 heated up Thursday when attorney and ex-Florida Congressman David Jolly announced he was throwing his hat into the ring.
Jolly represented the Tampa area as a Republican from 2014 to 2017. He gained a reputation for being one of Washington’s most bipartisan representatives during his tenure, frequently clashing with his own party. He left the Republican party after criticizing its embrace of Donald Trump and the MAGA movement.
Jolly has since spent time as a cable news commentator criticizing his former party. Recently, he joined the Democratic party and began crisscrossing the state, speaking to voters and laying the ground work for a gubernatorial run.
He’s expected to face President Trump’s preferred Republican candidate, Byron Donalds, who launched his campaign for governor several months ago. DeSantis’ wife, Casey, is also toying with a run, as is famed attorney John Morgan, who would challenge as an independent if he chooses to run. Former Senate Democratic leader Jason Pizzo is also running as an unaffiliated candidate.
The day before his announcement, Jolly sat down with WFTV for an interview about his decision to run and his positions on key issues. Below is a transcript of their full conversation.
Nick Papantonis
Before I ask any questions, I think there’s a sentence that you want to say.
DAVID JOLLY
I am running for governor of the State of Florida because we have an affordability crisis in the state that’s impacting everyone from every walk of life in every corner of the state. It’s hitting our housing costs, our auto costs, it’s hitting our utility costs. I do not believe that Tallahassee Republicans have done enough, and I think we need to do more.
Papantonis
Why are you the guy?
JOLLY
One -- look, I’ve had the opportunity to be a Republican, I’ve been an independent, I’m a Democrat, but really I’m about bold ideas, big ideas to solve big problems. And here’s what I love about a governor’s race. I think we’re all kind of exhausted by the national politics. I am.
It’s one of the reasons I left my party. A governor’s race is kind of like a big city mayor’s race. It’s about safe communities, good schools, roads that are fair and not always tolled, but we do have the affordability crisis.
This is a lived experience for my wife and I. We have a six year old and a four year old. We’re very fortunate, right? There are people who do not have the blessings that we have, but we also don’t come from wealth. I’m a preacher’s kid, and I’ll be working until I’m in my 70s, I’m sure.
So this is an opportunity for us to say, look, I believe there’s a coalition, a coalition across Florida, that knows we need change in the state of Florida, we have the affordability crisis, but we’re also coming off six years of culture wars.
I think we need to stop the Republican culture wars, create a government where the economy works for all people. The government actually serves its people, from veterans to seniors to providing a quality education, but also a government that lifts everybody up, that says, wherever you come from, if you were born here, if you weren’t born here, the color of your skin, who you love, who you worship, you’re welcome in Florida, you’re welcome, and you’re appreciated for your contribution to our culture and to our economy.
Papantonis
So, you mentioned the culture wars and people being tired. Florida’s legislature, you know, is now one of the most conservative socially in the country, to the point where every election cycle, voters are giving them more power.
JOLLY
Yeah.
Papantonis
Not less. They don’t seem to be punished. So why -- how do you plan to win?
JOLLY
Florida’s legislature is gerrymandered. Florida’s legislature is gerrymandered by a supermajority Republican party that has had control for 20 years. Florida’s legislature does not represent the full diversity of the state of Florida. We have to be honest about that.
One of the ways we fix things is we get dark money out of politics. We undo gerrymandering and we open up primaries.
I think this is a race where we build a coalition with independents and common-sense Republicans for a lot of reasons. One, it’s the right thing to do. That’s where the coalition is. But two, there are not enough Democratic voters in Florida to elect a Democratic governor, and we have to be honest about that as Democrats.
We have to go to places where Democrats have failed to. We have to sit with faith communities and say, in my case, I think the democratic values better align with teachings of faith, whatever faith that is. We have to go to [agricultural] communities and say, we believe that tight labor markets and rising costs are because of Governor DeSantis’ immigration policy and his war on immigration.
We have to go to the gun owner community and say, look, we don’t think gun owners are the problem, but our gun laws are and if we change them, we’ll protect your kids just as well as we’ll protect ours. Democrats also have to be okay to go into South Florida and say, communism and socialism is wrong. We support capitalism now. We want fair capitalism where there are rules, where everybody gets lifted up, not just the wealthiest.
That is a different message, I think. And honestly, I don’t care what your party registration is. You know, some people say, ‘Oh, Jolly, has been a Republican, then an independent, then a Democrat?’ Yes, that’s the strength of this campaign, because I have grown in my politics. I’ve understood all the different views from everybody across the state of Florida.
I love the fact that I’ve had that experience as a Republican and independent and a Democrat. I think the coalition that wants change actually appreciates that.
Papantonis
You mentioned immigration a couple of minutes ago. Three weeks ago in Palm Coast, you said Democrats can be the tough on crime party.
JOLLY
That’s right.
Papantonis
So I’m curious, what does an immigration enforcement under Governor Jolly look like?
JOLLY
Yeah, we will fight crime, but not communities. And what we have seen, I believe, in my opinion, Republicans have gotten away with conflating immigration and crime. And -- and through some of its darkest themes, it’s ugly and it’s wrong, but it’s also statistically not right.
There are studies -- now, this one’s from Texas, but there are others to support this -- that violent crimes in native born communities actually happen at a rate of two to one over immigrant communities. Property crimes at a rate of three to one. And yet, what we see from the president and our governor is this notion of playing theater and parading out immigrants, many of whom have not committed a crime, who are just trying to contribute to our economy and our culture.
Now that does not mean that Democrats should give a free pass, right? If you were born here, if you immigrated here, or if you’re a politician who stole $10 million from the Medicaid program, we’re going to investigate you. And if you committed a crime, you should face accountability. But we can do two things at the same time as Democrats, we can lift up our immigrant communities while we’re tough on crime. Republicans won’t do that.
Papantonis
So speaking of lifting up: in 2014 you endorsed a representative who introduced a bill to give undocumented students in-state tuition. That was something that the state repealed this year. If that bill were to come up again -- you didn’t take a position on at the time. So if that bill were to come up again, would you support it?
JOLLY
I support DREAMers having in state tuition. I do. And I think the Lieutenant Governor, former lieutenant governor, who was for it before she was against it, reflects the partisan grip in Tallahassee, because leaders like our former Lieutenant Governor know that it is right to allow DREAMers to have in state tuition. And what happened in Tallahassee just recently, there are thousands of DREAMers currently enrolled who now just had their tuition assistance revoked, their in-state tuition.
Papantonis
President Trump wants to gut FEMA.
JOLLY
That’s wrong.
Papantonis
How do you prepare a state for Hurricane Andrew or Hurricane Ian and no federal help?
JOLLY
It is irresponsible to gut FEMA.
Here’s my biggest concern: the war on government by Republicans currently. And look, I was a Bush 41 Republican. I lived through the less government era. That’s kind of where I associated with republicanism. With the Tea Party, it moved to no government, and now under Trump and DeSantis, it’s government’s the enemy.
Government’s not the enemy government has a role to step in where services are needed, transportation, schools, safe communities, responding to natural disasters. My biggest fear about what’s happening through the federal attack on government is that Tallahassee is now going to have to step in, we as taxpayers are going to have to step in and figure out how to fill the gap in services.
That means for some of our veteran populations where federal services are being cut, we have to fill the gap now, step into the gap. That means for natural disaster response, we have to do that. Look, I -- one, I served on the committee that that funded and worked with FEMA, and I think largely FEMA does a great job.
Are there areas for improvement? Of course there are. Of course there are. But we need FEMA, and we need a well-funded FEMA. We need to bring back science and data and math and recognize that our meteorologists need to have better science and math, and that what we’re getting from the federal government is good and it shouldn’t be cut.
What Donald Trump and Ron DeSantis have done in cutting FEMA and natural disaster response is going to hurt us in the State of Florida.
Papantonis
So Seminole County, on that topic, last week, held drill where they prepared for FEMA to not show up. So, in that case, as governor and as somebody who has experience with these responses, what pieces do you put in play? How do you move resources around so that Tallahassee can be there instead?
JOLLY
Sure, so listen, the Florida National Guard is probably one of the leaders nationally in disaster response. We do disaster response really well. And I think part of the heartburn over what just happened with the federal government is -- why -- you don’t have to fix what’s not broken, right?
Florida’s actually done a really good job at natural disaster response, but we need the partnership from the federal government. So I’m not concerned about the ability of Florida to respond. I’m concerned about the resources.
Now, look, budgets are values, right? There are places where we probably spend money that we shouldn’t, there are handouts that we give that we shouldn’t. There are resources we need to put into public education that we’re not right now. There are resources we might need to put into disaster response and increasing services for veterans.
I’ll give you one example where resources are available right now we’ve seen the scandal where insurance companies and other corporations, not just insurance, are allowed to ship profits out of state, but keep their losses here. If you went to something called combined reporting, legislation has been introduced, championed by some Orlando legislators in Tallahassee, actually, that would generate about two and a half billion dollars in revenue immediately if we did that. Tallahassee is not doing it because they’re in bed with big money and big corporations.
Papantonis
So you mentioned public schools, it goes right into the question I wanted to ask you about that. I know it’s a big part of your platform here.
JOLLY
It is.
Papantonis
Our public schools are starting to see a funding crunch. Districts are cutting, in some cases, hundreds of teaching positions, and yet, we have a hunger here for this concept of school choice --
JOLLY
Sure.
Papantonis
And so if you’re not going to take away the vouchers -- or maybe you are --
JOLLY
Right. We are not.
Papantonis
You’re not going to take away the vouchers. So then where does this investment in public schools come from?
JOLLY
Republican school choice is a false choice, because they have abandoned public schools. They are starving public schools. The excellence in our public school system survives on the sheer will of our teachers and administrators.
Truly, I mean, truly, we have seen the complete abandonment of our public schools, and Republicans gave away the plot this past year when they went to universal vouchers.
Many of us will remember when they started with vouchers, it was about helping families in need. In year one of universal vouchers, 70% of families who received them were already in private schools. They didn’t need the financial assistance.
So one, we go back to means testing the voucher program if it’s truly a tool for families that need it. Two, we put rules and expectations on voucher schools. I’ll give you two examples. Voucher schools received an $8,000 voucher for a student and turned around and raised their tuition by five or $8,000 that’s happened. So now the private schools are getting money coming and going. Families who received the vouchers that thought it was relief, turned out it was no relief at all.
Perhaps more importantly, private schools do not have to provide the same services as public schools. Real life example: first grader can’t read, gets held back. In a public school, they get an IEP. In a private school, they get kicked out.
My fear about the current Republican approach to education is, if we fast forward a decade, they are okay -- Republican politicians in Tallahassee are okay -- with creating a permanent underclass in the state when it comes to education. We are going to put our most challenged children, those from the lowest socioeconomic backgrounds, into public schools, and we’re going to hand out vouchers to other kids to go to private schools. But here’s the problem with that as well: these private schools do not have to provide the same standards, testing, excellence in education.
The greatest access to excellent education, and academics and the trades and the arts are still in our public schools, and Republicans have declared war on them. We need to celebrate public education spend more. Instead of trying to get a 3% pay raise for teachers, make it 30%. Budgets are values. Have more schools and more communities with more teachers who are paying more. Public schools.
What is a little different from past Democrats probably is instead of saying, kill the voucher program, my approach is different. Let’s recognize public and private schools as education partners of Florida’s families, and then say, what are the rules that everybody has to play by? Right now, Republican politicians have said we’re going to have two sets of rules, and it’s wrong.
Papantonis
Is that enough money in the reformed voucher program to invest in public education, or -- with Florida being consistently among the bottom in the states -- is there money that’s going to be pulled from somewhere else, and if so, where?
JOLLY
We are going to have to find resources. As I mentioned, there are areas that drive revenue that don’t impact Florida, as it actually restores fairness, right? What are we letting corporations get away with? We just saw a scandal where insurance is moving money out of state or moving profits out of state and keeping losses here. There are a number of areas where we can find the money.
I think we also have to be serious about this. Too many politicians get away with ignoring math. I think we’re seeing it in Tallahassee right now with their property tax proposals that have no idea how they’re actually going to find revenue to fund schools and safe communities.
It’s an honest conversation about math. Where are our priorities? Where do we find the revenue? Is it requiring combined reporting for corporations so that they have to recognize their profits here in state and we have the opportunity to tax them? Is it by moving money from a program that is currently perhaps a giveaway program, but we want to put it into schools or into safety?
But this is also not something -- look our president, God bless him, would say, I’ll fix it on day one. We’re not fixing a 20-year crisis in one day. Fortunately, a gubernatorial administration is four years.
I think what we do as a coalition is we set the targets, right? We want to reduce property insurance by having a state catastrophic fund. We want to attack the affordability crisis. We want to invest in public schools. What does that look like to soberly do that with math, but come out on the other side having returned Florida’s values to where they need to be?
Papantonis
Many Floridians are dismayed that land is being cleared for housing, and yet we are one of the most popular states still to move to.
JOLLY
Sure.
Papantonis
Maybe with the exception of certain hurricane-prone areas.
JOLLY
Sure.
Papantonis
Is there anything that you would do to thread that needle?
JOLLY
Yeah, yeah. We’ve abandoned responsible growth management. In Pasco County, they’re clearing lands, building houses, but they’re running out of water, and their schools are overcrowded. That is irresponsible growth management.
Part of the reason is because this governor has appointed people to our water district boards, to the Public Services Commission, to our universities who are not subject matter expertise or experts, but also don’t represent the interest of the board they’re actually supposed to be on. Usually, they are representing the industries that they’re regulating, and that’s where we end up with irresponsible growth management.
Not only do we have to do it, because ultimately we end up pricing people out, sending them out of state, but we also have to be stewards of the environment. I mean, there is, there is a responsible -- responsibility to be a good steward of the environment. But as we do that, we also grow Florida’s economy, because that’s why we want to live here.
People want to be in the Sunshine State with clean air, clean water. I just think part of probably the number one problem is the governor continues to appoint people to our regulating boards that don’t have the interests of the people in mind.
Papantonis (to side)
How much time have I got?
Jolly PR representative
About a minute left.
Papantonis
I’m gonna try to get two questions.
JOLLY
I’ll try to be quick.
Papantonis
All right, so the first question that I have is on Governor DeSantis. He has been considered to be one of the most powerful people to have ruled the state in a long time.
JOLLY
Yeah.
Papantonis
To the point where local politicians are afraid to say what they truly believe.
JOLLY
Yeah.
Papantonis
Are you committed to embracing opinions and local governments that differ or have values that are different than your own?
JOLLY
Look, if I have the opportunity to serve Florida as a Democratic governor, I’ll be working with a Republican legislature and a Republican president.
I don’t -- I don’t do performative politics. I don’t bend the knee, but if someone wants to work together to help celebrate public education, to provide a state catastrophic fund, to remove hurricane coverage from the private market, reduce the affordability crisis, I’ll meet with anybody. That means, if it’s a Republican legislature or Republican president of the United States,
Papantonis
My last question -- on a slightly different vein -- what is something that Governor DeSantis has done that you plan to continue?
JOLLY
So look, I think he started investing in climate resiliency. I don’t think it’s enough. I point to the State Senate president right now, who’s trying to invest $200 million in a rural renaissance to establish last mile corridors for education and healthcare and health care and infrastructure. I think it should be $300 million.
I think as Democrats, we can’t reflexively oppose what has happened from Republicans, just as Republicans shouldn’t oppose Democrats as they do. Governor DeSantis presided over a period of enormous economic growth in Florida, but it’s created enormous wealth disparities. It’s created an affordability crisis, and right now, Florida has become a home for the rich and the reckless. I want Florida to be a home for everybody.
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