A new campaign ad from Republican gubernatorial candidate Byron Donalds accuses Democratic candidate David Jolly of lobbying in favor of oil drilling after the Deepwater Horizon spill.
"Deepwater Horizon devastated the Gulf. Months later, David Jolly was lobbying Washington to expand offshore drilling off Florida’s coast — with more than $5 million in billings reflected in lobbying records," Donalds wrote on social media, where the advertisement was posted.
Deepwater Horizon devastated the Gulf.
Months later, David Jolly was lobbying Washington to expand offshore drilling off Florida’s coast — with more than $5 million in billings reflected in lobbying records.
Jolly took the money. Florida paid the price. pic.twitter.com/41NJ0itFlW
— Byron Donalds (@ByronDonalds) September 28, 2026
Rep. Donalds (R-19) accuses the former Republican of taking advantage of the oil spill and cashing in on Floridians' suffering.
"While Florida was still cleaning up, lobbyist David Jolly was already cashing in," the campaign ad states. "Just months after the spill, Jolly was in Washington pressuring Congress to expand drilling off the Florida coast."
In 2014, Jolly claimed he never lobbied in favor of offshore drilling, but Politifact, a fact-checking site, rated that claim mostly false, although it still states he did not actively push for the bill to be passed.
"Jolly said he never lobbied for offshore drilling. But a lobbyist disclosure statement contradicts that, and Jolly said later that he did attend a meeting in which the legislation was discussed even though he didn’t actively lobby for it. When we looked into the rules of lobbying, it seems that the situation as he describes it — being at a meeting but not actively pushing the measure with elected officials — technically counts as being part of a communication about the proposal," the ruling said.
A campaign video posted on Jolly's website also shows a negative view of offshore oil drilling.
"We have seen what an oil spill does. We've seen what it does to the environment. We've seen what it does to our economy. We've seen what it does to our way of life, and it's simply not necessary. And in an era in which new and emerging cleaner energies are available to us, drilling in the Gulf is something that we should continue to try to put an end to, not expand," Jolly says in the video.
This is not the first time that Jolly's past views have come under scrutiny from his political opponents, with Donalds recently criticizing his changing views on abortion, from pro-life to pro-choice.
