Republican Byron Donalds has recently been elected the new governor of Florida, defeating Democrat David Jolly. The news made liberal-leaning Florida residents angry, and many blamed the Florida Democratic Party for the loss, believing that the party simply did not plan well or invest enough money in its candidates for both governor and Senate.
As reported by NBC, Byron Donalds narrowly won the race with 50% of the vote. His main opponent, Jolly, obtained 48.7% of the total vote, while independent candidates such as Scott Jewett, Frank Russo, and Charles Burkett received the remaining votes.
It was a really tight race, with Jolly leading for most of the night, only to fall behind in the end. Byron Donalds was endorsed by U.S. President Donald Trump and won the primaries against Dane Eagle earlier in 2026.
The race also saw Republican Ashley Moody defeat Angie Nixon, winning 50.9% of the vote against Nixon’s 48%.
Florida Democratic Voters Are Angry With Party
The election results made many users of r/Florida unhappy, and most of them blamed the Democrats for the outcome. One of them wrote: “We never really run a Democrat as a candidate. It’s always a ‘he used to be Republican.’”
Someone else added: “I’d just be happy if the Dems could stop running former Republicans and acting as if it will work.” Another person responded: “This is what frustrates me the most. The Florida Democratic Party is asleep at the wheel.”
Some users were angry about Nixon losing the Senate race, too, and believed that she could have won if she had not been underfunded: “That is absolutely an issue, but they also didn’t spend nearly a dime here, and Angie Nixon outperformed despite being a former DSA member. Imagine if they had spent some money.”
However, others believed that the loss in the state, while most of the country decided in favor of the Democratic Party, had other causes: “The state also imported a ton of blue state Republicans. Dems have the US Senate and several governorships because of how many northeast, mid-Atlantic, and midwestern Republicans now live here.”
After the race, Florida continues to be a strong Republican stronghold in the country and will likely continue to support Trump.
