Jacob Ogles
Republican Byron Donalds is continuing to build a financial edge over Republican Primary opponents, now amassing $22 million for his bid for Governor.
The Naples Republican announced the haul at a time when the Congressman remains the only major Republican candidate officially in the race. He also already has an endorsement from President Donald Trump.
“Byron Donalds’ campaign is moving full speed ahead,” said Danielle Alvarez, the Donalds Campaign spokeswoman. “He has the coveted Trump endorsement, the proven conservative record, and a $22 million warchest. Florida will be well-served by his leadership.”
The campaign said it collected $10 million in the second quarter of 2025, money divided between his official campaign account and the Friends of Byron Donalds political committee. That’s on top of the $12 million raised by the campaign in the first quarter immediately after a formal launch in February.
The campaign announced its haul the same day Donalds attended the opening of the “Alligator Alcatraz” migrant detention facility in South Florida, where the White House had announced his attendance. Donalds was the only member of the state congressional delegation in attendance.
Donalds is one of half a dozen Republicans to already file for Governor in 2026, when Gov. Ron DeSantis cannot run again because of term limits. But he is the only candidate already holding major office and the only one raising millions in outside donations for a run.
Other candidates are rumored to be considering a run, including Agriculture Commissioner Wilton Simpson and First Lady Casey DeSantis. But none have filed for 2026, meaning they cannot officially raise funds for their campaigns.
Notably, Donalds has already reported some significant donations from major donors like Jeff Yass, Thomas Peterffy and Richard Uihlein, the latter of whom gave a second $1 million check to Friends of Byron Donalds on June 6.
The campaign has not released full reports on its spending to date.
2 comments
Earline Pitts
July 1, 2025 at 4:06 pm
This proves my handsom husband, Earl, was totally correct a year ago in his prediction of Byron as Florida’s next Govornor and Ron and Casey in the White House in 2028.
Earline Pitts American
Bill
July 2, 2025 at 8:26 am
Think this haul was good, take a look at his wife’s haul from Optima Foundation. It’s worth a read just to be reminded how corrupt this state is.
“But the congressman did report his wife earned more than half a million dollars in total salary between 2020 and 2022 from a firm called “Educator Solutions.” The Optima Foundation-run charter schools’ reports to the Internal Revenue Service show that they paid Educator Solutions $6,930,584 during those same years, while the foundation itself paid the company $2,783,216, all for “payroll services.”
State filings reveal that “Educator Solutions” is in fact a fictitious business name registered to ESI Technical Inc., a company founded by State Rep. John Snyder (R-Stuart), whose father William Snyder was the longtime Martin County sheriff until earlier this year. Snyder’s financial disclosures show he has earned nearly $700,000 from ESI Technical since 2020, the year he was elected, and he has consistently identified the Optima-linked charter schools as ESI’s biggest customers. Snyder has come under fire for promoting policies favorable to charter schools while profiting from their operations, but no outlet has previously reported his company’s financial relationship with Erika Donalds.”
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