Democrats may get a second shot at running a party convert for Florida governor in their ongoing effort to claw back the state’s battleground status.
Former Republican Rep. David Jolly, who has made a national name for himself as a vocal opponent of President Donald Trump, took a step Thursday toward a possible run for governor of Florida in 2026 by launching a state political committee.
Jolly, 52, also switched his no-party affiliation voter registration to Democrat on Wednesday afternoon, which would make him eligible to run statewide under the party’s ticket by next year’s qualification period in June.
The ex-Republican first told POLITICO he was weighing the decision to run to succeed Gov. Ron DeSantis in an interview last month, drawing comparisons to former Rep. Charlie Crist, the Republican-turned-independent-turned-Democrat who lost the gubernatorial race to DeSantis by 19 points in 2022.
Jolly talked about the new committee in a video he’ll be posting to social media, provided first to POLITICO, saying its goal was to “engage Florida’s voters, promote voter registration” and talk about issues like affordability, property insurance costs, “reinvesting in public education” and “fixing our broken voucher system.”
“We’ll tackle ending gun violence and so many other priorities for Florida voters,” he added.
Jolly’s political committee will allow him to start raising money for a possible 2026 statewide run, and he posted details about his biography and policy positions at DavidJolly.com. A state committee can accept unlimited sums from companies and individual donors, and candidates are allowed to be directly involved in their operation and decision-making — which isn’t the case for federal campaign committees.
Jolly is also bringing on Eric Hyers, a prominent campaign veteran for red-state Democrats, to advise his team on the 2026 cycle. Hyers managed winning campaigns for Democratic Govs. Andy Beshear of Kentucky, Steve Bullock of Montana and Gina Raimondo of Rhode Island.
Hyers told POLITICO in an interview that Democrats had a “huge opportunity” to win back middle-of-the-road voters in 2026.
“Jolly is a really pragmatic person,” Hyers said. “And in this cycle, people are not focused on the letter in front of your name — they want people they trust who do what they think is right and put them first.”
Having the support of a surrogate close to Beshear is also significant, given that the Kentucky governor is set to chair the Democratic Governors Association in 2026. It’s a midterm year in which 35 states besides Florida will have governor’s races — many of which will likely serve as a barometer for how voters are feeling about Trump’s policies.
Hyers stressed, however, that the political committee would be focused not on nationalizing the race but on finding solutions to “the challenges and biggest problems facing the people of Florida” such as grocery costs and retirement portfolios.
Should Jolly officially file to run for governor, he’d be making a big bet that his electoral prospects might turn out differently than Crist’s, the same politician who defeated him in 2016’s House race.
Mitchell Berger, a major Democratic party fundraiser and prominent Fort Lauderdale attorney who represented former Vice President Al Gore in the post-2000 election Florida lawsuits, argued Jolly’s situation would be different. Crist’s flip came across as more opportunistic, he said, because it happened after losing elections and because he took a swing at running for statewide office so many times.
“Rep. Jolly is responding to a national emergency — in the spirit of so many others who are choosing to respond in a national emergency — and trying to defeat emerging authoritarianism in the U.S.,” he said. “We have all heard him speak eloquently on it over the last few years, and we have all heard him speak practically about it as well.”
Jolly is joining the Democratic Party as Florida has shifted decidedly to the right despite once being the largest swing state in the U.S. Florida currently has 1.2 million more registered Republicans than Democrats, and no Democrat holds statewide elected office. The state also has served as an informal staffing agency and policy workshop for the Trump administration, with major roles and initiatives from the Sunshine State making their way to Washington.
Nikki Fried, the chair of the Florida Democratic Party who mounted her own run for governor in 2022, welcomed Jolly’s decision to join the party.
“We want people who want to fight and want to stand up for this moment,” said Fried, who added she would remain “impartial” in a potential Democratic primary for governor.
If Jolly follows through with a run for governor, he could potentially tap into a national network of donors and support given his ubiquitous appearances on cable television the last several years.
But the Democrats sizable voter registration gap in the state means a competitive campaign would need to garner support from their own party, nonaffiliated voters and disaffected Republicans.
Florida has closed primaries, meaning only Democrats can vote for the nominee of their party. Rep. Jamie Raskin (R-Md.) predicted Jolly would be able to bring “Florida back into play very quickly,” calling him a “strong champion on the environment” and citing his objections to how Trump was dismantling portions of the federal government.
“Electoral politics today is a game of inches,” Raskin said. “If you can bring over huge numbers of independents and 5 percent or 10 percent of Republicans, that will be breakthrough politics in Florida.”
Jolly left the GOP in 2018 because he disagreed with the direction of the party under Trump. Running on an aggressively anti-Trump platform is risky in Florida, a state the president won three times and one he calls home. Even after being elected, Trump spends many weekends at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach and could decide to get actively involved in the governor’s race and hold rallies here, just as he did for Ron DeSantis in 2018.
Trump endorsed Republican Rep. Byron Donalds for governor, though Florida first lady Casey DeSantis is also considering a run. The governor and first lady recently traveled to the White House to ask for Trump’s endorsement and blessing — but were denied — in a sign of the president’s influence in the contest.
Jolly has been meeting with Democrats over the course of the last year and has written in MSNBC about his experiences doing town halls across Florida, saying voters are concerned about their financial security and agency cuts under DOGE.
Jolly served only one full term in Congress, where he became known for his centrist stances, but is a well-known figure in Florida and nationally because he’s been an MSNBC political contributor for years.
Right now no other well-known Democrats have stepped forward to run for governor. State Sen. Jason Pizzo, currently the Democratic leader of the state Senate, has spoken about a possible run. But when asked this week, he said he would make a decision about his political future by September.
Berger, the Democratic fundraiser, said he would contribute “in any way I can” if Jolly were to ask for his support.
“Since 2020 there has been a rapid and unfortunate underperformance for the Democratic Party,” he said. “I truly believe the underlying Florida voter is someone who is quite independent in thought and will respond to an appropriate, unifying message.”