Jacob Ogles
U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds, the first major Republican candidate running for Governor, has come out swinging against the first significant Democrat in the race.
An attack ad against former U.S. Rep. David Jolly, who kicked off his own campaign this month, slams the Republican-turned Democrat over the views of his party. The one-minute spot leans heavily on a clip of Jolly in an interview with Hopium Chronicles in May, when he said Democrats in the wake of 2024 losses don’t need to revisit party positions.
Donalds’ ad repeatedly uses an excerpt with Jolly saying, “The Democratic Party is absolutely right on the issues.”
That statement from Jolly gets played in the ad after clips of controversial statements from prominent Democratic politicians.
That includes Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer saying, “Our ultimate goal is to help the Dreamers, but get a path to citizenship for all 11 million or however many undocumented.”
It also shows 2024 Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris saying “every transgender inmate in the prison system would have access” to gender surgery.
The ad also displays California news broadcasts from various policies in the state criticized by Florida conservatives. The stories featured include one on a transgender athlete winning a California track event, another showing rioters in Los Angeles waving Mexican flags, and the state becoming the first to offer public health care to undocumented immigrants.
Then it segues to President Donald Trump criticizing Democrats for voting “for a 65% tax increase,” a reference to a bill making tax cuts passed in his first term permanent. No Democrats supported the legislation in the House.
After showing a meme of a protester screaming at Trump’s first inauguration, the ad ends with large text filling slides: “David Jolly. Wrong then. Wrong now. Wrong for Florida.”
The ad is the first from the Donalds campaign to directly attack one of his opponents in the 2026 contest.
5 comments
Bill
June 17, 2025 at 7:17 am
If he’s starting this early with the attack ads, people are going to be sick & tired of him by the time the election finally comes around. At least wait until the primaries to see if either of them are still viable which, hopefully, neither of them will be.
just sayin
June 17, 2025 at 7:30 am
That’s not the way it works. You run the attack ads now that focus on the other candidate, then roll out the ones that focus on you closer to the election.
But I agree that neither of these guys are the cream of the crop.
Never GOP
June 17, 2025 at 7:31 am
Here we go again. Another hack Republican with crazed, cynical consultants and no real ideas except hating on trans people and immigrants. Typical for a Party that is mentally bankrupt.
no to Donalds
June 17, 2025 at 9:49 am
Apart from the endorsement of a convicted felon what has Donalds ever done for you? Nothing. The fact that he is already running “attack” ads clearly demonstrates his lack of integrity and care for us ordinary people. He is a power hungry narcissist like his mentor.
Larry Gillis, Director-at-Large, Libertarian Party of Florida
June 17, 2025 at 3:20 pm
CHERRY-PICKING AND MUD-BALLS, AS USUAL.
Why can’t these Clowns actually discuss the issues in some rational, systematic, and nuanced way? If they are this childish on the campaign trail, exactly how “schoolyard” are they gonna be if actually elected?
The Libertarian approach is to publish a Platform that we actually believe in, produced only after months of systematic inquiry and internal debate. It celebrates personal freedom and personal responsibility. It does not engage in character assassination.
The “ad hoc” and “ad hominem” approach taken by the two “Legacy Parties” really ill-serves the People of Florida.
Send them a message: Vote LIBERTARIAN
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