David Jolly refuses to debate Byron Donalds in Florida governor’s race
Key Points(5)
- If no debate takes place, the 2026 governor’s race would be Florida’s first in more than 50 years without a general election 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.
- “That’s not something I wish to do for our state.” Jolly also took to social media to defend his decision, writing on X: “You can’t debate a liar.” His campaign said it had previously accepted multiple debate invitations that Donalds did not accept.
- Jolly had agreed to events with Tampa Bay Tiger Bay and CBS Miami, while Donalds accepted separate proposals from Telemundo and NBC 6 in South Florida, Spectrum News in Orlando and Tampa, and News4Jax in North Florida.
- The competing commitments meant the candidates had not agreed to appear at the same debate.
Democratic nominee David Jolly says he will not debate Republican nominee Byron Donalds ahead of Florida’s November gubernatorial election, accusing his opponent of engaging in “repeated lies and bad faith.”
Jolly announced the decision Sunday, days after both candidates accepted multiple debate invitations but failed to agree on a shared event. If no debate takes place, the 2026 governor’s race would be Florida’s first in more than 50 years without a general election 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.
“That’s not something I wish to do for our state.”
Jolly also took to social media to defend his decision, writing on X: “You can’t debate a liar.”
His campaign said it had previously accepted multiple debate invitations that Donalds did not accept. Jolly had agreed to events with Tampa Bay Tiger Bay and CBS Miami, while Donalds accepted separate proposals from Telemundo and NBC 6 in South Florida, Spectrum News in Orlando and Tampa, and News4Jax in North Florida.
The competing commitments meant the candidates had not agreed to appear at the same debate.
Donalds, who had publicly challenged Jolly to three debates earlier in the campaign, criticized the Democrat’s decision.
“I said 3 debates. Jolly said 12 debates. Yesterday, Jolly said no debates. Who’s the liar Dave?” Donalds wrote on X.
In a separate statement Monday, Donalds accused Jolly of avoiding scrutiny of his policy positions, describing his opponent’s agenda as “too far Left and too expensive for Florida.”
Jolly, however, said Donalds had declined debate opportunities his campaign had previously accepted before announcing his own choices.
“We accepted multiple debates before this week,” Jolly said. “Byron refused them and instead set his own rules by press release.”
Jolly said he plans to continue campaigning through town halls and other events with voters rather than sharing a debate stage with Donalds.
The dispute comes with just weeks remaining before Florida voters choose their next governor in the November 3 general election.
