David Jolly seeks Florida governor seat as Democrat

David Jolly, a former Republican congressman turned Democrat, is running for Florida governor in the Nov. 3, 2026, general election.

Jolly won the Democratic primary on Aug. 18, according to NBC News. He faces Republican Byron Donalds, Libertarian Scott Jewett and five No Party Preference candidates: Charles Burkett, Dean Ocean Abrams, Jeffrey Peter Datto, Moliere Dimanche and Frank Russo, according to BallotReady. His running mate is former Democratic Congresswoman Gwen Graham, who represented Florida's 2nd Congressional District, according to Wikipedia.

Candidate information

Party: Democratic
Born: Oct. 31, 1972, in Dunedin, Florida; raised in Dade City
Residence: Pinellas County, where he lives with his wife, Laura
Family: Jolly says he is a fifth-generation Floridian and the son of Baptist minister Lawson Jolly
Education: Bachelor's degree from Emory University (1994); law degree from George Mason University (2001)

Experience and public service

Jolly represented Florida's 13th Congressional District in the U.S. House from 2014 to 2017 as a Republican, according to BallotReady. Before that, he served as staff and general counsel in the office of U.S. Representative Bill Young from 1995 to 2006, according to Wikipedia.

He worked as a lobbyist at Van Scoyoc Associates from 2007 to 2011, according to Wikipedia, and founded Three Bridges Advisors in 2011, according to BallotReady. He later served as executive vice president and principal at Shumaker Advisors Florida starting in 2018, according to Wikipedia. Jolly says he also worked as a political analyst at NBC and MSNBC, according to his campaign website.

Jolly has changed parties more than once. He left the Republican Party in September 2018 and spent several years as an independent, according to his Wikipedia biography. He co-founded the Forward Party in 2022 before registering as a Democrat in April 2025 and launching his gubernatorial bid in June 2025.

Jolly says his work on campaign finance reform was featured on CBS' "60 Minutes" while he served in Congress.

On the issues

Jolly outlined these positions on his campaign website and in responses compiled by BallotReady.

Housing and insurance: Jolly says the property insurance crisis is the primary reason many Floridians struggle to afford a home. He proposes a state catastrophic fund that would remove natural disaster perils from the private market, which he says would reduce property and car insurance rates. He also supports a no-interest, state-backed loan program for condominium associations facing costly repairs.

Education: Jolly says he would pursue a 10-year plan to revitalize public education, including increasing teacher pay by 30 percent to bring salaries closer to the national average.

He says the state voucher program is built on an economic model likely to collapse and that private schools accepting vouchers should cap tuition inflation and provide the same specialized services public schools offer. He also says qualified Florida students should have preferred application status at the state's flagship universities.

Environment and energy: Jolly says Florida should accept the science of climate change, protect beaches and state parks, and invest in resiliency. He calls for greater integration of clean energy technologies into public utilities, saying those technologies can drive down utility costs.

Healthcare: Jolly says Florida should expand Medicaid, calling it a critical program that supports childbirth care, long-term care for seniors and hospital funding statewide.

Government reform: Jolly says he would reopen the Hope Florida investigation if elected, according to Sparker's Soapbox. He also calls for stronger ethics and campaign finance rules, saying Florida has some of the weakest in the country. He supports making constitutional amendments easier for voters to place on the ballot and respecting home rule.