Who Is Byron Donalds?

Donalds serves on the House Financial Services and Oversight committees, and his voting record is public.^[2] As a Florida state representative he voted no on the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Public Safety Act on March 7, 2018.^[5] In Congress he voted yes on the January 6 and 7, 2021 objections to counting Arizona's and Pennsylvania's electoral votes.^[4] He voted no on the 2021 universal background checks bill, no on the enhanced background checks bill, and no on the 2022 Bipartisan Safer Communities Act.^[4] He voted no on the Equality Act and no on the Respect for Marriage Act both times it reached the floor. He voted no on the 2022 bills that would have written abortion access into federal law, saying the Supreme Court's ruling made regulating abortion the job of the states. He voted no on the bipartisan infrastructure law and no on the Inflation Reduction Act, which let Medicare negotiate drug prices and capped Medicare insulin at 35 dollars a month. On veterans' toxic exposure care, he voted no on the House PACT Act in March 2022 and yes on the Senate version that became law that July. He voted no on the 2023 debt limit deal, and yes on the One Big Beautiful Bill Act in 2025, the budget law that made the 2017 individual tax rates permanent and changed Medicaid and SNAP eligibility and financing rules. In January 2023 he was himself a candidate for Speaker of the House, drawing 20 votes on the fourth ballot.^[4]

His campaign platform lists seven issue areas: enacting the Trump agenda, fighting illegal immigration, making Florida more affordable, expanding economic opportunity, protecting conservative values, improving infrastructure, and preserving the environment.^[6] Specific plans include Your Doctor Your Price, which would require every licensed Florida provider to post cash prices for the top 50 common services; Zero Tolerance Zero Dollars, which would cut state grant funding to any entity that does not certify cooperation with federal immigration enforcement; a public shot clock on major permits; annual forensic audits of state and local government; and a goal of repealing homestead property taxes, about which he said, "You shouldn't have to rent your house from the government every single year." On energy he has said data centers and power are the two critical things for Florida's future, that solar arrays concern him as a use of land, and that Florida cannot rely on solar and battery farms for baseload power. Asked whether he is a realist or an ideologue, he answered, "I would probably say I'm more of an ideologue than the president. I'm a conservative. I'm actually very conservative." Gun Owners of America endorsed him in June 2026 and says he pledged support for expanding constitutional carry to adults 18 and older and repealing Florida's red flag law.

Donalds faces Democrat David Jolly, a former Republican member of Congress who left the party, in the November 3, 2026 general election. Donalds named his running mate, Sen. Bryan Avila, on August 25, a week after the primary. As of mid-August, Donalds had raised more than 111 million dollars across his campaign and his political committee, most of it through the committee Friends of Byron Donalds.

Sources

[1] Florida Division of Elections, certified 2026 Republican primary results

[2] Rep. Byron Donalds, official U.S. House website

[3] Florida Senate, Sen. Bryan Avila member page

[4] U.S. House Clerk, roll call votes

[5] Florida Senate, SB 7026 of 2018, the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Public Safety Act

[6] byrondonalds.com, the campaign's platform pages

[7] Florida Phoenix, August 17, 2026

[8] The Cook Political Report, Florida Governor