The contentious 2026 gubernatorial race in Florida between Rep. Byron Donalds and former Rep. David Jolly could boil down to political affiliation and possibly the true identity of either candidate.
Rep. Donalds is a Trump Republican through and through, while Rep. Jolly has torn a page out of former Republican-turned-Independent-turned-Democrat Charlie Crist's playbook and switched his political affiliation from Republican to Independent to Democrat.
Yes, Jolly, the former centrist Republican, is now being defined as having an identity problem.
In a not-so-subtle "X" post, Rep. Donalds poses the question, "The real debate is, who are you?"
Donalds' question comes in response to Jolly's assertion that Donalds is a "liar" and that is the reason he will not debate.
"Jolly told Crist years ago that people can't trust him because he changed positions for political convenience," said Donalds in an interview with The Floridian. "He's desperate and begging national donors to get involved in the race."
In addition, Donalds points out that Jolly swapped his Independent voter registration card for a Democrat one only six weeks before he announced his gubernatorial run for office in April of 2025.
Like Crist, Jolly has flipped-flopped on several key issues.
While they look to make the 2026 midterm elections a complete referendum on President Donald Trump and his trade and economic policies, which many see as the cause of the current affordability issue, Democrats aren't saying much about solutions to the economic climate everyone finds themselves in. Recent polls show President Trump dragging down Republicans.
This predicament Democrats find themselves in is reminiscent of the Obamacare argument Republicans have campaigned on. Kill Obamacare! Yet, Republicans have not offered any legitimate replacement for the ailing Socialist-minded Affordable Care Act that defined the Obama administration.
The latest Real Clear Politics (RCP) average of polls shows Donalds beating Jolly by 6 percentage points.
