David Jolly, the Democratic nominee for Florida governor, announced Sunday that he would not debate his Republican opponent, Byron Donalds, before the Nov. 3 election.
It would be the first governor’s race since 1974 to go without a debate.
“It is clear, given the tenor of the current campaign environment, including Byron’s repeated lies and bad faith, that debates this cycle would not create constructive, honest conversation and only further stoke division, animosity, and bad will,” Jolly said in a statement on Sunday. “That’s not something I wish to do for our state.”
Jolly announced his refusal two days after the Donalds campaign announced that it had accepted three debates. It did so by news release to reporters and before it had confirmed with the Jolly campaign the logistics. Jolly campaign officials, who had accepted two other debate proposals, said that Donalds wasn’t going to dictate to them the time, place and manner of the debates.
Still, late Friday they said they were reviewing the proposals.
“We’re discussing what makes sense and what doesn’t make sense from a scheduling standpoint,” said Mark Riddle, Jolly’s campaign adviser.
But Sunday’s refusal, announced as Florida’s three NFL teams were playing or about to take the field, didn’t mention anything about logistics.
Instead, Jolly’s refusal outlined fundamental disagreements with Donalds as the reason to skip the debates. Asked what changed over the weekend, Riddle said it became obvious that the Donalds campaign was playing games.
“We accepted multiple debates before this week,” Jolly said in the statement. “Byron refused them and instead set his own rules by press release. His ads and allegations have repeatedly been found to be false, and it is clear he is simply looking for avenues to continue misleading Florida’s voters.”
The Donalds campaign could not be reached. Evan Power, the chairman of the Republican Party of Florida, posted on X: “Dodgy Dave. He’s afraid to explain his record and insurance tax.”
Two weeks ago, Republican U.S. Sen. Ashley Moody refused to debate her Democratic challenger, Angie Nixon.
Jolly said he will continue to campaign across Florida and meeting with voters. He urged Donalds to continue to do so as well. That, not a debate, would have to suffice.
Florida hasn’t had a governor’s race without a debate since Reubin Askew ran for reelection in 1974. Polls then projected Askew up with 70% of the vote.
Jolly is no Askew. Analysts give Donalds, who has raised eight times more campaign donations than Jolly, a slight edge.
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Tampa Bay Times Election Coverage
- How David Jolly won the Democratic nomination for Florida governor
- How Byron Donalds won the Florida GOP nomination for governor
- 5 takeaways from the St. Petersburg mayoral primary results
- While other progressives lost in Florida, Angie Nixon won. Why?
- 3 reasons why Byron Donalds could win Florida’s governor’s race
- 3 reasons why David Jolly could win Florida’s governor’s race
