Democrats haven’t won Florida’s governor’s office since 1994.
But they’re sending the party’s big guns to Florida three weeks before Election Day.
Democrats are sending Bill Clinton into Florida and that tells you everything.
The Numbers Don’t Lie – Democrats Are Drowning
David Jolly has raised $16.7 million total.
Byron Donalds has raised $134.4 million.
That’s an 8-to-1 fundraising gap – and Jolly’s own team saw it coming.
Jolly went public in September pleading for national Democrats to send money to Florida, warning supporters that a top Republican consultant told him the only way he loses is if national Democrats take a pass on Florida “like they have in the past 10 years.”
National Democrats largely took a pass.
So now they’re sending Bill Clinton.
https://twitter.com/MyNews13/status/2110491181981315088?s=20
Clinton – whose only 2026 campaign appearances before this week were in New York – is scheduled to join Jolly at an interfaith event in Hollywood, Florida on October 20, two weeks before Election Day.
This is what a Hail Mary looks like when you’re out of receivers.
“All of these people who are coming to Florida and to these other states have a lot of name recognition, especially among the party faithful, especially among Democrats and Republicans who are definitely going to show up,” Florida Gulf Coast University Professor Bethany Conrad said. “These are players that they’re familiar with. These are people that they look to regularly for information.”
“So, them coming could definitely give some credibility to those campaigns,” she added.
Donalds Has Trump, Money, and Momentum
Trump gave Donalds his “complete and total endorsement” – and Florida Republican voters responded immediately.
When GOP primary voters were told about Trump’s backing, Donalds’ support surged to 68% against every other Republican in the field.
Donalds raised over $22 million in the first quarter of 2026 alone – the largest non-incumbent fundraising haul in Florida history.
Behind Trump, Donalds has earned endorsements from Donald Trump Jr., Elon Musk, Charlie Kirk, Senator Rick Scott, the majority of Florida sheriffs, and 75% of the Republican caucus in the Florida House.
https://twitter.com/WesternJournalX/status/2110755596362518575?s=20
The most recent Stetson University poll has Donalds up 52 to 41 among likely voters.
Decision Desk HQ just moved the race from “Toss Up” to “Lean Republican.”
Cook Political Report, Sabato’s Crystal Ball, and Inside Elections all rate it the same way.
DeSantis won Florida in 2022 by nearly 20 points.
Trump carried the state by double digits in 2024.
Florida isn’t a swing state – and it hasn’t been for years.
The Clinton Deployment Is an Admission of Defeat
Think about what it means that Bill Clinton is the Democrats’ best asset in Florida right now.
Clinton’s own party has spent years trying to sideline him.
During the 2018 midterms, the New York Times reported that Democrat candidates had largely stopped asking Clinton to campaign – noting that the #MeToo era had made him more of a political liability than an asset.
Eight years later, he’s the closer Democrats are counting on.
Jolly himself is an almost comical choice to lead Democrats in Florida – a former Republican congressman who switched parties and now needs an 80-year-old impeached ex-president to generate excitement.
The candidate refuses to debate Donalds.
His own fundraising strategist publicly warned that national Democrats would never show up for him.
https://twitter.com/foxnewspolitics/status/2110769243725992074?s=20
And his answer is to book an interfaith dinner in Hollywood with Bill Clinton.
Byron Donalds has Trump’s full backing, $134 million in the bank, and the support of nearly every major Republican in the country.
He’s not losing to this.
Democrats aren’t coming to Florida to win.
They’re coming to say they tried.
Sources:
- Brooklynn Robinson, “Dems Tap Bill Clinton to Speak in Desperate Bid to Win Florida Race for Governor,” The Western Journal, October 15, 2026.
- “Trump gives Byron Donalds ‘complete and total endorsement’ for Florida gubernatorial run,” Washington Examiner, May 27, 2026.
- “New Poll Shows Trump-Backed Donalds Continuing to Dominate Florida Governor’s Race,” Byron Donalds for Governor Campaign, 2026.
- “Byron Donalds dwarfs David Jolly in early 2026 Florida governor race fundraising,” Tallahassee Democrat, 2026.
- “Jolly to national Democrats: Show me some money,” Florida Phoenix, September 25, 2026.
- “Democratic candidates reportedly have stopped asking Bill Clinton to campaign for them,” Fox News, 2018.
