TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — With less than a month remaining before Florida’s Aug. 18 primary, the race for governor briefly skipped ahead to November this week.
Republican front-runner Byron Donalds challenged leading Democratic candidate David Jolly to three general-election debates this fall, even as Donalds continues facing three opponents for the GOP nomination.
WATCH: Recap: Debate dare, courtroom drama and a governor abroad
“There has been a lot of talk about debates,” Donalds said while issuing the challenge. “When the time comes for these debates, you're going to see my vision is one for a free Florida that puts the people of Florida first, protects the Florida dream, expands our economies and makes sure that Florida remains number one in all of America.”
Jolly, a former Republican congressman now running as a Democrat, initially responded by telling Donalds to survive his own primary first. During a later CNN appearance, however, he said he would gladly meet Donalds on the debate stage.
“A dozen times,” Jolly said. “Let him get through his Republican primary right now, because I'm not sure he can get through that. Let's see what he does on August 18.”
The exchange gave Donalds’ Republican opponents — Lt. Gov. Jay Collins, former Florida House Speaker Paul Renner and businessman James Fishback — another opportunity to criticize the front-runner for looking beyond them.
Donalds has not debated his primary rivals while maintaining sizable advantages in polling, fundraising and endorsements. A recent Cygnal survey showed Donalds at 43%, compared with 12% for Fishback, 11% for Collins and 2% for Renner, although nearly one-third of voters remained undecided.
A separate University of North Florida poll offered an early look at the possible general-election matchup. Donalds led Jolly 46% to 41% among likely midterm voters, with a margin of error of 3.8 percentage points.
Fishback’s candidacy rests with a judge
While Donalds looked toward the fall, Fishback spent much of Tuesday defending his place on the Republican primary ballot.
Collins is asking a Leon County judge to disqualify Fishback, arguing his Washington, D.C., voting, tax, mortgage and homestead records show he failed to meet the Florida Constitution’s requirement that a governor reside in the state for the preceding seven years.
During the one-day hearing, Collins’ attorneys presented records showing Fishback registered and voted in Washington in 2020, listed D.C. addresses on tax documents and signed mortgage paperwork identifying a condominium there as his principal residence.
Fishback acknowledged voting in Washington but testified that he never intended to abandon Florida as his permanent home. He said he entered a D.C. polling place with his Florida driver’s license and did not understand that he was registering as a Washington voter.
“On Election Day, I inadvertently registered and voted in that election,” Fishback testified.
Fishback also said he did not closely read mortgage documents identifying the condominium as his primary residence. His defense presented corporate filings, insurance records, travel records and other documents intended to show that his legal and personal ties remained in Florida.
The hearing, originally expected to last two days, wrapped after a single day of testimony. Circuit Judge David Frank ordered both sides to submit proposed rulings by Friday and said he expects to issue a decision by 5 p.m. Monday. The ruling could determine whether Fishback remains on the Aug. 18 ballot. Read more about the hearing.
DeSantis leads business mission to the U.K.
Florida’s current governor, meanwhile, spent the week leading a state business-development mission through England and Scotland.
Gov. Ron DeSantis opened Florida’s pavilion at the Farnborough International Airshow and announced that Relativity Space plans to expand its operations at Cape Canaveral. The company plans an additional production facility for its Terran R rocket, along with expanded testing and launch infrastructure at Kennedy Space Center and Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.
State officials say the project could create thousands of jobs by 2034. Relativity Space is also eligible for up to $134 million through Florida’s Spaceport Improvement Program. DeSantis separately oversaw a cooperation agreement between Space Florida and the U.K. Space Agency aimed at research, innovation and commercial development. Space Florida outlined the expansion here.
In London, DeSantis and Florida Insurance Commissioner Mike Yaworsky met with leaders from Lloyd’s of London and other insurance and reinsurance firms. The trip comes as Florida officials continue trying to attract additional private capital to the state’s property-insurance market. Officials said the meetings also explored a potential research partnership between Florida and the Lloyd’s Lab insurance-technology program.
The mission also produced new academic agreements. Florida International University and Scotland’s Heriot-Watt University agreed to pursue cooperation centered on free markets, political economy and the work of Adam Smith. The University of Florida and the University of St. Andrews established a broader framework for joint research and faculty and student exchanges in fields including quantum, marine and physical sciences.
Property-tax support falls when voters hear the price
Back in Florida, a new poll showed the state’s proposed property-tax amendment may be popular enough to pass — depending on how it is described to voters.
The proposal would raise the homestead exemption for non-school property taxes from $50,000 to $150,000 in 2027 and then to $250,000 in 2028. It would also lower the annual assessment-growth cap for non-homestead properties from 10% to 5% and restrict how local governments spend remaining property-tax revenue.
The UNF survey initially found 61% support after respondents were told the amendment would reserve property-tax revenue for core public services. That is narrowly above the 60% approval required for a constitutional amendment.
Support fell 16 points, however, after respondents were told the proposal is estimated to create an approximately $11.8 billion municipal budget shortfall over two years. With that information, 45% supported the amendment and 47% opposed it.
The poll surveyed 848 likely midterm voters from July 8 through July 17.
Those results add significance to three lawsuits challenging the amendment’s ballot title and summary. Plaintiffs argue phrases promising to “protect small businesses,” “ensure fairness” and preserve core services amount to political advertising instead of a neutral description of the proposal.
The challengers are not asking a judge to remove the amendment from the November ballot. If the language is found defective, state law would require Attorney General James Uthmeier to rewrite what voters see.
A hearing on the ballot-language challenges is scheduled for July 29 in Leon County. The cases could be consolidated ahead of that hearing.
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