Florida Republicans fend off Democrats as state elects first black governor
Republican Byron Donalds, who was backed by President Donald Trump, will be the first black governor of Florida.
Florida Republicans hold off Democrats as state elects first black governor
Republican candidates in Florida fended off several prominent Democratic challenges, while the state also elected its first black governor.
Republican Byron Donalds, endorsed by President Donald Trump, was projected to win the governor’s race, and Republican Ashley Moody was projected to have retained her Senate seat.
She faced Democrat Angie Nixon in the special election for Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s former Senate seat.
Those two victories came alongside numerous historic Democratic gains that gave the party full control of the US House of Representatives and the Senate for the final years of Trump’s presidency.
US Senator Ashley Moody was appointed to fill Marco Rubio’s seat
Nixon pulled off a surprise victory in the Democratic primary to become her party’s nominee, though her campaign funding could not compete with Moody’s.
Donalds had served in Congress since 2021 before seeking the governorship to succeed longtime Republican Governor Ron DeSantis, who was term limited and unable to run again.
A strong Trump ally, Donalds had at one point been on the shortlist to serve as his running mate in 2024.
Born in Brooklyn, he later moved to Florida for university and became a familiar figure in local politics before entering Congress.
Democrats in the state also recorded some unexpected wins. Florida Republicans had helped redraw political maps as part of a nationwide redistricting effort aimed at improving each party’s chances of winning House seats.
But in all three districts redrawn to favor Republicans, Democrats kept their seats.