*U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds enters Florida’s Republican primary today as the clear frontrunner for governor, putting the Trump-backed conservative one election closer to becoming something the Sunshine State has never had: a Black governor.
The historical irony is difficult to miss.
Eight years ago, Democrat Andrew Gillum nearly broke that barrier. The former Tallahassee mayor lost the 2018 governor’s race to Ron DeSantis by just 32,463 votes — 49.19% to 49.59%, according to official Florida results.
Now another Black politician could make history from the opposite end of Florida’s political spectrum.
And Donald Trump helped put him there.
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Trump’s Endorsement Is Central to Donalds’ Rise
Donalds, 47, isn’t distancing himself from the president. His gubernatorial campaign proudly advertises him as “TRUMP-ENDORSED” and promises to advance what it calls the Trump agenda.
The alliance became particularly significant during Trump’s 2024 presidential battle with DeSantis. While some prominent Florida Republicans backed their governor, Donalds sided with Trump.
Trump later endorsed Donalds early in the gubernatorial contest, calling him a “TOTAL WINNER.”
That support has paid political dividends.
A recent James Madison Institute poll put Donalds at 49% among Republican primary voters, a whopping 31 points ahead of Lt. Gov. Jay Collins at 18%. Former Florida House Speaker Paul Renner registered 8% and businessman James Fishback 4%.
Donalds is favored Tuesday, but voters — not polls — decide elections.
Florida Is a Very Different State From 2018
The contrast with Gillum’s historic run extends beyond party labels.
Florida has undergone a dramatic political transformation.
Gillum came within four-tenths of a percentage point of becoming Florida’s first Black governor in a state where Democrats still held a voter-registration advantage.
Today, Republicans dominate Florida registration and have repeatedly demonstrated their statewide strength.
That means the Black candidate with perhaps the clearest path to finally breaking Florida’s gubernatorial color barrier isn’t a progressive Democrat.
He’s one of Trump’s most prominent Black Republican allies.
Donalds has also tended to downplay the racial significance of his candidacy. Asked by CBS Miami about potentially becoming Florida’s first Black governor, he said, “I’m aware of it, but I don’t really focus on it.”
Florida history will notice whether he does or not.
Race Has Followed Donalds Into the Campaign
Donalds’ relationship with race and Republican politics is more complicated than the simple label “Black MAGA candidate.”
He drew fierce criticism in 2024 after discussing Black family life during segregation.
“You see, during Jim Crow, the Black family was together,” Donalds said while arguing that government social programs later contributed to deterioration in Black family structure.
Donalds subsequently rejected interpretations that he was saying Black Americans were better off under Jim Crow, emphasizing that his argument concerned family structure.
Now he’s also faced racialized attacks from inside his own party.
Republican gubernatorial rival James Fishback drew condemnation after posting: “By’rone wants to turn Florida into a Section 8 ghetto.”
Donalds largely dismissed Fishback, telling CBS that he viewed the attack as an attempt to attract attention.
That leaves Donalds in an unusual political position: criticized by opponents for defending Trump against accusations involving race while simultaneously encountering racial attacks in the Republican contest he’s favored to win.
From Gillum to Donalds, History Flips the Script
HuffPost framed Donalds’ rise around his years of defending Trump amid the president’s long record of racial controversies, including his promotion of the false birther conspiracy against Barack Obama and inflammatory comments involving Black people and immigrants.
Former Republican consultant Mac Stipanovich, who left the GOP after Trump’s rise, put his criticism more sharply.
“Consenting to Trump’s racism is the price of admission for a Black Republican to MAGA World,” he told HuffPost.
Donalds’ campaign responded to HuffPost’s questions about Trump and racism by attacking the premise and the reporter rather than addressing specific examples.
But Tuesday’s election is ultimately about what Republican voters think.
Donalds faces Collins, Renner, Fishback and several other candidates in the Aug. 18 primary to succeed term-limited DeSantis. On the Democratic side, former Republican congressman David Jolly is the leading candidate.
Winning Tuesday would not make Donalds governor. November would still stand between him and history.
But the symbolism is already striking.
In 2018, Florida nearly elected its first Black governor in Andrew Gillum, a progressive Democrat running against Trump’s preferred candidate.
Eight years later, the man positioned to finally make that history is a Black conservative whose campaign prominently advertises the endorsement of Trump himself.
Florida voters now get the next word.
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