Ron DeSantis built the most successful conservative state government in America.
Now a man who called it an abject failure wants to run it.
Byron Donalds just dropped an ad showing exactly what David Jolly would do the moment he walked into the governor's mansion.
Jolly Called DeSantis a Failure and Vowed to Undo His Work
The ad is called "Never," and it's 30 seconds of pure clarity.
"Liberal David Jolly called Florida under Ron DeSantis an abject failure and vowed to undo DeSantis's agenda," the narrator says.
That's not Donalds putting words in Jolly's mouth.
https://twitter.com/ByronDonalds/status/2107462928974897340?s=20
Jolly said it himself.
Think about what that actually means.
DeSantis delivered $10 billion in tax relief – nearly three times what the previous eight years produced combined.
Florida's economy grew roughly 80 percent on his watch.
High school graduation hit 92.2 percent – the highest in state history.
Jolly looked at all of that and called it a failure.
The Man Who Spent Years Trashing Florida on MSNBC Now Wants to Run It
Here's who David Jolly actually is.
He left the Republican Party the moment Trump won in 2016.
Then he spent years as a paid MSNBC analyst – appearing regularly to call Trump dangerous, call DeSantis corrupt, and tell the country that Florida conservatives were wrecking the state.
He got so far left that when Scarborough went to Mar-a-Lago after the 2024 election to meet with the president-elect, Jolly went on air and attacked him for it.
"You can't do that," Jolly told MSNBC viewers.
Jolly was furious that a fellow network personality was willing to simply speak to the man Florida just helped elect president.
That's who wants to be your governor.
https://twitter.com/EricLDaugh/status/2107617745680363693?s=20
Now he's a registered Democrat, he's named Gwen Graham as his running mate, and he's promising to gut school choice, crack down on guns, and reverse Florida's direction on immigration.
The Donalds ad lays out the price tag directly: higher taxes, jacked-up insurance, everything more expensive.
Jolly is betting that rising costs have made voters angry enough to forget why they kept choosing Republican governors for 27 straight years.
“This guy has been on every side of politics over the last 10 years, but he won’t tell the people of Florida that,” Donalds told voters in Key Biscayne. “Instead, he comes up with a folksy story about his thoughtful change. That is not true. Even 10 years ago, when David Jolly was debating Charlie Crist, he told Crist that people could not believe him because it seemed like he changed his positions for political convenience. Those were the words of David Jolly to Charlie Crist 10 years ago.”
Donalds Has Trump and DeSantis Behind Him
Trump endorsed Donalds in May at a rally in The Villages: "This guy's gonna be a great governor."
DeSantis formally endorsed him at the Florida GOP Leadership Forum in Tampa in September.
https://twitter.com/EricLDaugh/status/2107490053819654506?s=20
Donalds leads in polling by five points with a 1.3 million voter registration advantage behind him.
His pitch is simple: build on what DeSantis built, or hand it to a man who called it a failure while cashing MSNBC checks.
If Jolly wins on November 3rd, Day One looks like this – school choice starts dying, conservative education reforms get reversed, and a man who said holding Trump accountable is his duty starts making appointments.
The people who built Florida's 27-year Republican streak didn't do it by handing power to someone who spent years on national television telling the country the state was broken.
Donalds is making sure voters remember that before they walk into the booth.
Sources:
- Michael Costeines, "Byron Donalds Says David Jolly Will Erase DeSantis Agenda if Elected Governor," Floridian Press, October 6, 2026.
- "Florida Primary: Byron Donalds, David Jolly to Compete for Florida Governor in November," Fox 13 News, August 18, 2026.
- "Byron Donalds Set for November Faceoff with Democrat David Jolly for Florida Governor," Washington Examiner, August 18, 2026.
- "DeSantis Highlights '7 Years of Conservative Success' in Final State of the State Address," NBC15, 2026.
- "Former GOP Congressman David Jolly Launches Florida Gubernatorial Bid as a Democrat," CBS News Miami, June 2025.
- "Former Lawmaker Takes Shot at MSNBC Hosts for Meeting with Trump at Mar-a-Lago," Fox News, December 2024.
