Rep. Byron Donalds, Republican nominee for governor in Florida, delivers a victory speech where he promises to “take Florida to the next level” following the leadership of former Gov. Rick Scott and outgoing Gov. Ron DeSantis. <\/p>\n
REP. BYRON DONALDS (R-FL): Erika, there’s a lot of love in this room tonight. A lot of love. I want to start by thanking God for all his blessings and protection over my family and over my team. I also want to thank the most important people in my life. To my amazing family. Erika, my incredible wife of 23 years. And our sons, Damon, Darren, and Mason. Thank you guys for standing by my side during the long days and the late nights on the trail. I love you guys. I love you. I want to thank all of our supporters. All of you are here. And many, many more. And I want to thank the best campaign team in all of America. We’ve been crisscrossing Florida. We’ve been knocking hundreds of thousands of doors. Taking our message to all Floridians. And tonight, because of your sweat, because of your hard work, we have won a massive victory. Now we’ve just come through a hard-fought primary. I got a call from Paul Renner and James Fishback tonight. And they, hold on, I’m going to tell you why in a moment. And they congratulated me and all of us on a hard-fought victory. And my conversation with both of them is very simple. Congratulations. Let’s go beat David Jolly in November. You see, because individual opinions and passionate supporters are the beauty of our conservative movement. But tonight, the primary is over. Tonight, we put aside our differences. Tonight, we are one united Republican Party. You see, I remember Erika and I were sitting around a fire pit last year with friends. And we were talking about this campaign. And we were talking about the future of Florida. No matter the issue or the policy, the conversation always ended with us talking about the Florida Dream. For us, it’s personal. You know my story. I came to Florida 30 years ago on a Greyhound bus. At 17 years old, with just a trunk full of clothes, I arrived in Tallahassee. Go Knolls. Go Knolls. I could have sworn it was opening weekend here in Orlando because it became Knolls Nation here tonight. But in all honesty, and Blaze Zingolia, our CFO, is here with us. Blaze, congratulations on a decisive victory. And Blaze has heard me say this, and I mean it. I love all of our schools now. When Erika and I got married, it wasn’t always easy. Our first apartment was 1,200 square feet, and it had those old Jalousie windows. We didn’t have the money for the security deposit, so we had to roll that into our rent. I worked at Cracker Barrel and moved furniture on the weekends just to make ends meet. Erika was six months pregnant with our first son, and she worked full-time as a staff accountant while working for Kelly Services on the weekend. We did this to build a life for our family. This state gave me a chance. I went on to spend 17 years in banking, finance, and insurance, and it prepared me for the very real economic challenges that Floridians face every single day. You see, the Florida dream to us is clear. It’s the promise that if you work hard, you can get ahead, own a home, raise your family, and give your kids a better shot than you had without government holding you back. In Florida, we have built a strong foundation under former Governor Rick Scott. And under Governor Ron DeSantis, we have supercharged that foundation, making Florida the envy of every state in America. We are going to continue that legacy and take Florida to the next level to protect and expand that dream for the next generation. My administration will be guided by three pillars, making Florida accountable, achievable, and most of all, affordable. An affordable Florida starts with a limited government that respects hardworking taxpayers who fund it. Under my watch, every contract, every budget, and every fee this state spends will be posted online, out in the open, where you can see it. We are going to continue the Department of Government Efficiency that was started here in Florida under Governor DeSantis. As your governor, we are going to doge all local governments and all state agencies. There will be no sacred cows. To taxpayers deserve to know that their hard-earned dollars are being spent efficiently, transparently, and with total integrity. An achievable Florida means every Florida child gets a real shot at the Florida dream, no matter where they start. We are going to make sure our kids master math, reading, and writing, not just to have the best K-12 system in America, but to have the best K-12 system in the world. And we know in a modern economy, there are multiple ways to be successful. That’s why we’re establishing the Launchpad Initiative, an employer-led program connecting high school juniors and seniors with in-demand careers in construction, aerospace, defense, and manufacturing. They will learn, they will earn, and they will graduate into high-paying, six-figure jobs without student debt. Because if a kid can make real money right out of high school, that’s a kid already building the Florida dream for themselves. And right here in Florida, we are going to lead the world in commercial space. Cape Canaveral is no longer a museum. It is the most active spaceport in the Western Hemisphere. We are going to slash the red tape, expand our technical workforce, and keep the welders, machinists, and engineers of the future right here in the Sunshine State. An affordable Florida means a Florida that stays a place that you can actually afford to live. From your tax bill to your insurance premium to the cost of your healthcare. First, we’re going to keep cutting your taxes. When I was in Washington as a member of Congress, I fought for your federal taxes to be cut. No tax on tips, no tax on overtime, and the largest tax cut on Social Security in this country’s history. That’s real money back in your pockets, in the pockets of Florida workers and Florida’s retirees. And as your governor, I will continue to fight to make sure you keep more of your hard-earned money. On property taxes, whether Amendment 3 passes or fails, we are going to reform property taxes in our state with the goal of eliminating homestead property taxes once and for all. And if the math can’t take us there, we will target that relief to our seniors on fixed income and our working families who want Florida to remain their home. And let’s be very clear, and I see Sheriff T.K. Waters from Duval County is right here in front. How you doing, T.K.? At the same time, hey, Steve, Steve Wood in Hendry County, at the same time, we will not jeopardize funding for our police, firefighters, and first responders. Because they have our backs, and we have theirs. On insurance, you pay your premium every single month on time, and you deserve real results. We will create a public scorecard on every insurance company in Florida, tracking how fast they pay claims and how often they deny them, bringing real competition, real transparency, and real accountability to drive rates down. On housing, we are going to slash government red tape so that whether you’re a young worker starting out or a growing family or a senior on fixed income, you can actually buy and afford a home in Florida. On healthcare, under our Your Doctor, Your Price plan, we will require healthcare providers to post real cash prices for all procedures up front in plain English. No prior authorization gains, no surprise billing, and we are going to align state prescription drug pricing with federal pricing so you pay less at the pharmacy counter. And finally, on power and artificial intelligence, we will lead in innovation, but we will not put the cost of AI on the backs of Floridians and their electric bills. We will mandate closed-loop systems for water. We will enforce strict setbacks for residential neighborhoods, protect our pocketbooks, protect our communities, and protect our environment or no data centers, period. And please remember this, none of our prosperity works without safe streets. In Florida, law and order will always be the standard. We will back the blue, we will support our sheriffs and police officers, and we will keep our communities safe. Now, an accountable, achievable, and affordable Florida is our vision for the future. But in 77 days, Florida, we face a critical choice. In November, we will be facing off against liberal David Jolly. Oh, I see you’ve heard of him. Well, let me tell you some more. David Jolly is a career political insider, a Washington lobbyist cashing checks for special interests, and an MSNBC commentator who was part of the very revolving door he claims he’d clean up. David Jolly represents everything that folks hate about Washington, D.C. Liberal David Jolly is the change that Florida cannot afford. When it comes to your wallet, Jolly opposed cutting taxes for working families and seniors. Jolly defended a $ 4 trillion tax hike that would raise taxes on every Floridian, taxing your tips, taxing your overtime, and taxing your Social Security on seniors who spent a lifetime earning. Jolly would rather you pay more than $ 3,000 in taxes every single year. On property insurance, his plan is government-run socialism that forces you to prop up state funds with your tax dollars. When COVID hit, David Jolly chose Fauci over Florida. He fled to Pennsylvania because he wanted endless lockdowns over common-sense leadership by Ron DeSantis, and he later said that Fauci has unimpeachable judgments. Well, let me be very clear. Anyone who chose Fauci over Florida does not deserve to lead our state into the future. On law enforcement and the border, he wants to end Florida’s cooperation with federal authorities and its floated open borders. On our children, David Jolly actively champions radical gender policies and opposes protecting our children from life-altering transgender surgeries. This is a man who says he found his home in the Democrat Party and that the Democrats are right on all the issues. David Jolly said he felt welcome in the Democrat Party under Kamala Harris. That’s what he said. The same Kamala Harris that left our borders open, left our streets unsafe, and created the largest inflation most Americans have ever seen. Florida, David Jolly is out of his mind. And to top it all off, he has vowed that on election night that he wants to apologize for Florida to the rest of the world. Well, let’s make something very clear to David Jolly. We are not going to apologize for Florida. We will not apologize for keeping our state open. We will not apologize for keeping our taxes low. We will not apologize for backing our police. And we will not apologize for protecting girls’ sports. And we will never apologize for protecting parental rights. No one listened to David Jolly on MSNBC, and no one should listen to him now. He lost before. And on November 3rd, he is going to lose again. See, here’s my promise, Florida, tonight and every day moving forward. I will keep your taxes low. I will lower your insurance costs. I will protect school choice. I will stand with law enforcement. I will defend common sense when it comes to protecting our girls and our children’s puberty. And I will make Florida more affordable. The general election starts tonight, and I can’t do this alone. I need your prayers. I need your energy. And I need your hard work. So I ask you, are you with me to keep Florida red? Are you with me to keep Florida free? Then let’s get out and build a state that’s truly accountable, achievable, and affordable. Together, we will make the Florida dream a reality for every mom wanting the best for her kids, for every dad providing for his family, for every young person like our own sons desiring to own a home and start a family, and for every retiree enjoying their golden years. Together, we will not just be defending the Florida dream, we will take the Florida dream to a whole new level. God bless you, Florida. God bless you for being here tonight. And God bless the United States of America.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n