Donald’s gubernatorial bid has been endorsed by President Donald Trump. If successful Donalds, 46, would become the first black governor of Florida.
Before being elected to Congress in 2020, Donalds spent four years in the Florida House, the last two coinciding with Gov. Ron DeSantis’ first two years as governor. Although the two were considered allies at that time, their relationship appeared to change after Donalds endorsed Trump over DeSantis for president in 2023 and became a major surrogate for the Trump campaign.
"We have a great governor. Ron DeSantis has done a tremendous job for our state," Donalds said on Fox News' "Hannity" Tuesday night. "But now the job is to keep the best state in the country as the best state in the country. And so that's going to be the mission at hand. And I'm excited to announce my candidacy with you tonight."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CqUZ6t-254Y
Born in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, the middle of three children raised by a single mother, Donalds is a graduate of Florida State University where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in finance and marketing in 2002. He has worked at TIB Bank, CMG Life Services, and Moran Wealth in Naples.
Donalds entered politics as part of the Tea Party movement and ran for the U.S. House of Representatives for Florida's 19th congressional district in 2012. He finished fifth, out of six candidates. In 2016, he ran for the Florida House of Representatives and won, replacing retiring incumbent Francis Rooney to represent Hendry County and east Collier County in the State Capitol.
In 2020, Donalds succeeded in getting elected to the U.S. House of Representatives for the 19th district and was re-elected in 2022.
Donalds’ rough background and hard-core conservatism have made him a GOP rising star. Donalds has described himself as a "Trump-supporting, liberty-loving, pro-life, pro-Second Amendment Black man."
Donalds has supported and promoted Trump, frequently appearing with him at public events, including the Daytona 500 earlier this month. After the race, he posted on X, "It was an honor to join President Trump aboard Air Force One & at The Great American Race.”
(And as what I would count in the win column for Byron, Democrat lunatic Nikki Fried has criticized him repeatedly,)
In a statement released after Donalds' announcement, Florida Democratic Party Nikki Fried called him a "dangerous political opportunist who should be nowhere near the governor’s mansion.
“One of the least popular people in Tallahassee politics, Byron is best known for skipping votes, defending insurrectionists, and promoting a revisionist version of Black history that defends Jim Crow," Fried said. "He has little political experience and no executive experience, and is completely unqualified to run the state of Florida.
(Donalds has denied the Jim Crow accusations, saying that while it was true marriage rates for Black Americans were higher at the time, it didn't mean he thought Jim Crow was "great.”)
“Byron is only interested in power, and he won’t fix our property insurance crisis or bring down the cost of living for Floridians. He only has a shot at the nomination because Trump endorsed him, and Trump is only endorsing him because he wants a puppet in the governor’s mansion — pissing off Ron DeSantis is an added bonus.”
At an event in Pennsylvania in June last year, Donalds drew outrage for saying that more Black people were married during the Jim Crow years when rights for Black people were severely restricted.
"You see, during Jim Crow, the black family was together," Donalds said. "During Jim Crow, more black people were not just conservative, black people have always been conservative-minded, but more black people voted conservatively. And then, HEW (Department of Health, Education, and Welfare created in the 1950s), Lyndon Johnson, and then you go down that road, and now we are where we are."
Donalds lives in Naples with his wife, Erika, and their three sons: Damon, Darin, and Mason. Donalds was previously married to Bisa Hall for three years.
Arrest record.
When Donalds was 18, after a party at his apartment, he was arrested for possession of marijuana. Two years later, a female acquaintance convinced him he could make a thousand dollars by depositing a bad check. “I was desperate, I was out of money, I didn’t have a job, my rent was overdue."
Donalds has since made restitution to the bank for about seven times the original amount but the state pressed bribery charges in 2000. The charges were later expunged. The 1997 marijuana charge was dismissed as part of a pre-trial diversion program.
“My pastor always says that everybody in life is 15 seconds away from stupid," Donalds said, "but when you’re desperate, you’re three seconds away. And I was desperate.”
Donalds has been open about these arrests during his campaigns and has said they are a tale of sin and atonement that make him uniquely qualified to serve others.
In 2020 a complaint was filed alleging that Donalds did not disclose his previous arrests on several applications, including one to sell securities and a 2014 application to serve on the board of Florida SouthWestern State College. Donalds maintained that since the bribery charges were expunged, they no longer existed and he had no reason to disclose them.
After reviewing the complaint, the Florida Ethics Commission dismissed it, finding it lacked legal sufficiency.
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