Jay Collins spent millions in TV ads trying to stop him.
He got 7 percent.
Byron Donalds just hit 54 percent and not one rival in the field can break double digits.
The Number That Ends Races Before They Start
The Fabrizio, Lee & Associates poll – the same firm that has tracked this race since January – showed Donalds nine points higher than their last survey while the entire field moved sideways or backwards.
James Fishback – who has spent months calling Donalds racially charged names and attacking his character – climbed to 9 percent.
That's it.
Former House Speaker Paul Renner, who once had real name recognition in Tallahassee, came in at 2 percent – below the poll's own margin of error.
The key finding is not Donalds' number.
It is where his growth is coming from.
https://twitter.com/IAPolls2022/status/2051220315410215048?s=20
Undecided Republicans are breaking toward Donalds at a rate that outpaces every other candidate's total support.
When voters learn Trump has endorsed him, the race stops being a race.
An earlier Fabrizio poll showed that with Trump's endorsement information included, Donalds jumped to 76 percent while Fishback collapsed to 6 percent.
That is not a race.
That is an execution.
What $67 Million Looks Like Against Nothing
Donalds raised $22.2 million in the first quarter of 2026 alone – the largest single-quarter haul in Florida history for a non-incumbent gubernatorial candidate.
His combined war chest now sits at over $67 million – more than every other candidate in the race, Republican and Democrat, combined.
Collins burned through outside money on ads that moved no one.
Fishback has made noise but not money.
Renner is functionally done.
Beyond Trump himself, the Donalds endorsement sheet reads like a Republican allstar list – Donald Trump Jr., Elon Musk, Sen. Rick Scott, House Speaker Mike Johnson, Majority Leader Steve Scalise, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, 17 of Florida's 20 congressional delegation members, and three-quarters of the Florida House Republican caucus.
This is not a coalition.
https://twitter.com/WellsJorda89710/status/2051272409408217370?s=20
This is a coronation.
Why Democrats Should Be Worried Too
Democrats have been quietly telling themselves that a bruising Republican primary means opportunity in November.
They are wrong.
Donalds leads former Republican-turned-Democrat David Jolly 49 to 43 in a general election matchup, according to an April Echelon Insights poll.
He leads Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings 48 to 44.
Florida has not elected a Democratic governor since 1994.
Trump carried the state by 13 points in 2024.
Jolly – who only switched parties last year – is the Democrats' best option.
Forty-three percent against a candidate with $67 million and Trump's full backing is not a path to victory.
https://twitter.com/PeterSchorschFL/status/2051239226398679054?s=20
It is a participation trophy.
This Is What the Trump Effect Actually Looks Like
Here is the part the media refuses to explain honestly.
The Trump endorsement does not just help candidates – it doubles them.
When Fabrizio polled Florida Republicans and included the fact of Trump's endorsement, Donalds went from dominant to untouchable – 76 percent to Fishback's 6 percent, a 70-point margin.
That gap is why every serious Republican in America is maneuvering for Trump's blessing before a single primary vote is cast.
Donalds has the endorsement, the money, and a lead that is growing while his opponents burn cash trying to close it.
The Florida governor's primary is August 18.
Barring a political earthquake, that is the day Byron Donalds becomes the Republican nominee – and Democrats find out what they're actually up against.
Sources:
- Jacob Ogles, "Latest poll shows Byron Donalds at 54% with GOP Primary voters," Florida Politics, May 4, 2026.
- "Byron Donalds posts record $22M quarter to kick off 2026 Governor's race," Florida Politics, April 1, 2026.
- "$67 Million Man: Rep. Byron Donalds Shatters Fundraising Records In Florida Governor Race," Tampa Free Press, April 1, 2026.
- "POLL: Donalds leads in two Florida governor matchups, Moody ahead in Senate race," FL Voice News, April 21, 2026.
- "Florida 2026 Poll: Donalds Leads GOP Primary for Governor," Emerson College Polling, April 2, 2026.
- Byron Donalds for Governor official campaign release, "Trump-Endorsed Byron Donalds Raises Record $22 Million Haul in Q1," April 1, 2026.
- "Byron Donalds dominates Florida GOP gubernatorial race," The Hill, April 2, 2026.
