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FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — A Republican attempting to become Florida’s first Black governor faces a crowded field Tuesday while Democrats wage primary battles for a reduced pool of left-leaning seats under redrawn congressional maps.
U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds is banking on President Donald Trump’s endorsement in hopes of securing the Republican nomination and advancing to the fall election. His opponents include Lt. Gov. Jay Collins and political newcomer James Fishback.
Democrats’ leading candidate for governor is David Jolly, a former Republican congressman who switched parties last year.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a leading conservative figure who has clashed and collaborated with Trump over the years, is barred from running for a third consecutive term.
The first polls closed at 7 p.m. in Tuesday’s primaries, which are giving final form to a November ballot whose races will test Trump’s grip on his adopted state and Democrats’ ability to resurrect Florida as a national political battleground. Florida has moved notably to the right since Trump won his first election in 2016, though Democrats hope to regain ground from his slumping popularity ratings.
Two Democrats are battling for nomination in a U.S. Senate special election to complete Marco Rubio’s term after he became Trump’s secretary of state last year. Progressive state lawmaker Angie Nixon matches up against retired Army Lt. Col. Alex Vindman, a former National Security Council official who testified in Trump’s first impeachment case in 2019.
PHOTOS: Florida holds primaries for governor and Congress, testing Trump's grip on adopted state
Meanwhile, Sen. Ashley Moody, the DeSantis appointee currently holding the seat, appears in a strong position as she seeks the Republican nomination with Trump’s endorsement for the term’s final two years.
For Congress, Tuesday’s biggest nominating fight involves longtime Democratic U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, former U.S. Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick and others in a redrawn south Florida district.
Wasserman Schultz, who is white, wants voters in the new, plurality Black district to grant her a 12th term. Cherfilus-McCormick is seeking a comeback after resigning earlier this year under a pending federal indictment and threat of House ethics sanctions.
There have been three elected Black governors in U.S. history. Yet the 47-year-old Donalds is more likely to tout his conservative credentials than the possibility of joining that select group.
He promises to push tax cuts, overhaul Florida’s insurance regulations to lower consumer costs and seek greater price transparency from health care providers.
Source: Read the original article on www.washingtontimes.com
