There were no surprises in the state’s gubernatorial primaries in the Sunshine State. Democrat David Jolly won handily garnering 61% of the vote.
On the GOP side Donalds, a U.S. House member representing the 19th district, mostly Southwest Florida, easily won among a crowded field, but failed to crack 50% of the vote.
Jenna Ellis hosts Jenna Ellis in the morning on American Family Radio. She says that margin could be a problem in the fall.
"Some of the head-to-head polls prior to the Tuesday results show Byron Donalds only winning by a margin of between 4 and 7%, and when you look back at 2022 and Ron DeSantis winning overwhelmingly in the double digits and how Republicans have close to a million and a half more registered voters, the math should favor Donalds. The fact is that he didn't win as overwhelmingly as other candidates in the primaries, for example, Ashley Moody, who won her contested race with a really strong percentage."
Moody is Florida’s junior U.S. senator. She was appointed by DeSantis to complete the term of Marco Rubio, who resigned to become secretary of state after Donald Trump won in 2024.
Ellis expects a much more challenging campaign for Donalds in the fall.
"This is not a great showing by Byron Donalds, and I think he's going to have to change his messaging and really convince Republicans who are part of the DeSantis base to come out and support him. I do think at the end of the day, he has a far stronger likelihood of actually winning than David Jolly, but it's not going to be by a wide margin unless his campaign really understands what DeSantis voters are wanting."
