Rep. Byron Donalds claimed the Republican nomination for Florida governor on Tuesday night, emerging as one of the headline winners in a busy round of Florida primary elections.
The Sunshine State delivered a rapid-fire stream of results, including the defeat of a sitting House member, successful primary defenses by several incumbents and a surprising loss for a Democratic Senate contender at the hands of a candidate aligned with the Democratic Socialists of America.
Here are five key takeaways from a high-stakes Florida primary night packed with political drama.
1. House incumbents from both parties survive redistricting and extremist opponents
Reps. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.), Jared Moskowitz and Randy Fine (R-Fla.) all advanced to the general election after turning back challengers from the more hard-line wings of their own parties.
Wasserman Schultz kept her campaign for a 12th term in Congress alive with a decisive win over four Democratic rivals in Florida’s 20th Congressional District primary. Among them was progressive activist Elijah Manley, who criticized her decision to seek office in the majority-minority district.
The former Democratic National Committee chair shifted into the 20th District — where Black and Hispanic residents make up more than 60% of the population — after Florida Republicans redrew her previous seat in a way that made it more favorable to the GOP.
In Florida’s 25th Congressional District, Moskowitz also secured a Democratic primary victory, defeating socialist challenger Oliver Larkin and handing another disappointment to the party’s left flank.
Moskowitz, a two-term incumbent and one of the most visible Jewish Democrats serving in the House, had support from the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) and the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC). Larkin, by contrast, drew backing from far-left streamer Hasan Piker and former New York Rep. Jamaal Bowman, who represented parts of the Bronx and Westchester.
In Florida’s 6th District GOP primary, Fine easily turned back a challenge by far-right influencer Dan Bilzerian, who suggested in one campaign ad that Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler needed to be reassessed.
Bilzerian, who referred to Fine as a “fat Jew,” “Shylock,” “Jewish supremacist,” “Satanic whore,” and “Satan’s creepy little minion” in the shocking commercial, lost to the incumbent by nearly 40 percentage points.
2. (Alleged) crime doesn’t pay
A trio of scandal-scarred pols – incumbent Rep. Cory Mills (R-Fla.) and former Reps. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick (D-Fla.) and Chris Collins (R-NY) – suffered massive defeats in House primaries across the state.
Mills’ loss to former Orlando TV news reporter Ryan Elijah in the 7th District was the biggest.
The Trump-backed incumbent, who is under investigation by the House Ethics Committee for numerous disturbing allegations, is the 10th House incumbent to lose a primary election this cycle.
Cherfilus-McCormick, who resigned from Congress last year after she was indicted by the feds for allegedly stealing $5 million in COVID-19 relief funds, finished a distant fourth in a failed comeback bid in Florida’s 20th District.
Collins, who resigned from Congress in 2019 after pleading guilty to insider trading and lying to the FBI, was among 10 candidates vying for the GOP nomination in Florida’s 19th District, the seat being vacated by Donalds.
The former New York rep mustered only about 7% support and the victory went to local broadcasting magnate Jim Schwartzel.
3. The anti-Trump ‘resistance’ loses an icon
Florida state lawmaker and DSA member Angie Nixon shocked retired Army Lt. Col. Alex Vindman in the special Democratic Senate primary, giving the far left a major success on an otherwise disappointing night in the Sunshine State.
Vindman served as a key witness in Trump’s first impeachment trial over his demand that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky investigate then-former Vice President Joe Biden’s family business entanglements in exchange for the release of $400 million in military aid.
The retired Army lieutenant colonel had fashioned himself as an anti-Trump attack dog, saying in his campaign launch video: “The last time you saw me was … swearing an oath to tell the truth about a president who broke his.”
Trump himself reveled in Vindman’s defeat Tuesday night.
“SleazeBag Vindman loses tonight to a Radical Left Lunatic. How cool is that???” the president wrote on Truth Social after the race was called.
Nixon will take on incumbent Sen. Ashley Moody (R-Fla.) in November. The winner of that race will serve the remainder of the six-year term that Secretary of State Marco Rubio won in 2022.
4. Four Republicans set to take on Democrats in new, GOP-friendly districts
Mid-decade redistricting boosted Republicans in four Florida congressional districts held by Democrats. These are the Republicans who could potentially flip seats in the House come November.
In Florida’s 14th Congressional District, former state Rep. Mike Beltran won the GOP primary and will take on Rep. Kathy Castor’s (D-Fla.) in the fall.
In Florida’s 9th Congressional District, the GOP primary is still too close to call, but Dan Green leads Ben Butler by about a percentage point. The winner will face Rep. Darren Soto (D-Fla.) in the general election.
In Florida’s 22nd Congressional District, businessman Casey Askar made it out of the GOP primary and will face Democrat Pia Dandiya in November.
In Florida’s 25th Congressional District, former Boca Raton Mayor Scott Singer won the GOP primary and will face Moskowitz in what is sure to be a hotly contested race.
5. Race to replace DeSantis set
Donalds, who led in polling throughout the race, trounced his opponents Tuesday night in the Florida Republican primary for governor and is now the heavy favorite to replace term-limited Gov. Ron DeSantis in Tallahassee.
Donalds, who was endorsed by Trump, cruised to victory over 10 other opponents with 47.8% of the vote, nearly doubling up Sunshine State Lt. Gov. Jay Collins (25.2%), while far-right former investor James Fishback (10.5%) and former state House Speaker Paul Renner (8.5%) battled to finish a distant third.
He’ll face former Rep. David Jolly, the winner of the Democratic gubernatorial primary, in November.
The last Democrat to hold office as Florida governor was Buddy MacKay, who left office in January 1999, while Lawton Chiles was the last Democrat elected Florida governor when he won a second term in 1994.
If Donalds wins in November, he’ll become the first black governor in Florida history.
