No, your eyes don’t deceive you — Florida is in play for Democrats this year. Last night, David Jolly secured the Democratic nomination in Florida’s gubernatorial race in a landslide victory. What does this mean for Floridians? That after eight years of Ron DeSantis using Florida as a “testing ground” for hardline policies and culture wars, Floridians are ready for change.
David Jolly is leading that charge. Fresh off his victory last night, Jolly joins Tim to illustrate his vision for investing in Florida’s future. The Democratic nominee also hits at the government’s role in creating a sustainable system for everyone.
If you ask Jolly, Democrats have a real chance to take back the state this November. He argues that Floridians deserve real change, not to live in a nonstop culture war battlefield.
David Jolly is the Democratic nominee in the race to become Florida’s governor. He previously served in Congress as a Republican. Jolly has also been a long-time political commentator on NBC and MSNBC.
The following transcript has been edited for formatting purposes.
Tim Dickinson
Hey, this is Tim Dickinson for The Contrarian. Our guest today is David Jolly, who is now the Democratic candidate for governor in Florida. David, welcome, and congratulations on your primary victory.
David Jolly
Thank you, good to be with you, Tim. I appreciate it.
Tim Dickinson
Did you get much sleep last night?
David Jolly
No. But, look, I’ve been through some races where nobody cares. I’ve actually won some races where nobody cares. It’s exciting to be in an environment where, you know, change is here, where the movement has launched, and I’m just one piece of that. I’m a candidate. None of this works if voters aren’t engaged and excited. So, yeah, big night in Florida on primary night. I do think change is here, and I think we’re in a position to win this race.
Tim Dickinson
Well, talk to me about that, because I think, you know, from the outside, Florida looks like a state that’s gotten red and is getting redder, and Ron DeSantis has turned the state into, like, a laboratory for the culture wars, and you’re preaching something different, and also seeing an opportunity here, so I wonder if you could talk to us about what is the opportunity you see to turn Florida back to the blue?
David Jolly
Yeah, I’ll give you the real Main Street answer, and then a little bit of political analysis. Look, the Main Street answer is people are desperate for answers to an economy that’s slipping away from us, and, you know, it’s easy to say affordability crisis, but the reality is, think about the pillars of people’s personal economic lives. Housing, healthcare, and education, those priorities. They shift often through the generations of one’s life. But if you think about the cost of housing in Florida, can you stay in your home because of an insurance market that has collapsed? If you’re a renter, can you live in the community in which you work? Now more people going without healthcare than ever before. And then a state that’s abandoned public education, where can you send your kids to school? Those are the basics of the grip of the economy.
Tim Dickinson
And then.
David Jolly
And we are a state, as you mentioned, that’s been a lab for some of these right-wing experiments. largely defined around the culture wars, and people are just exhausted by it. So, look, we were a deep red state four years ago, even 2 years ago, 13 or 14 points, but I’ll tell you we’re a purple state now, not just because of what we see in November, but the performance of all of our special elections in the last 18 months. Our two congressional specials swung by 15, 16 points, state legislative races by 20, the city of Miami elected a Democratic mayor, for the first time in 30 years, it wasn’t even close, it was 19 points. Deep red Sarasota, that wall is breaking. Mar-a-Lago elects a Democratic state representative. Hillsborough County replaces their Republican state senator, now Lieutenant Governor, with a Democrat with less than $100,000 to spend on his campaign. I say all that for this reason. Voters always tell us what they want. And right now, in 2026, in Florida, voters are saying, we want change. We want somebody to address our economic needs and just stay out of our personal lives. Voters tell us what they want. If Republicans had listened over the last two years, wouldn’t be in these straits, but they haven’t been listening. We’re building a campaign that is.
Tim Dickinson
When we talk about change, I’m looking at, you know, Donald Trump’s national polling numbers are as low as they’ve been. and your opponent, Byron Donald’s, like, real claim to fame is just being buddies with Trump. And so, here’s a guy who’s tied himself really extravagantly to the Commander-in-Chief. Trump’s numbers may be somewhat different in Florida, but I imagine that in itself creates a bit of an opening.
David Jolly
It does, but, you know, I saw a report. I don’t think he mentioned Donald Trump’s name once during his primary night speech. I think he mentioned me 5 or 6 times. He mentioned Mandami, he mentioned the economy. He didn’t mention Donald Trump. Look, what you’re gonna see is what’s typical in the sixth year of a presidency. You know, the president’s own party, the down-ballot candidates, run away from the president, and so… Yes, Donald Trump’s numbers are softening because the economy’s not working, but also, in the midst of a broken economy, we’re seeing the gilded ballrooms, we’re seeing the open corruption, if you will, that’s just been platformed, and so Byron Donald has to reconcile with that. Look, I’m not litigating the president in this race.
Tim Dickinson
But I…
David Jolly
I’m litigating the current state of our state and our country under this president. That’s what we’re all living through. Byron Donalds, he is known for two things. First, he’s Donald Trump’s guy, and second, honestly, in Florida, he’s been bought by every special interest that’s controlled our state for 30 years. The $100 million he’s received isn’t charity. It came from the data centers, the utility companies, the for-profit schools, the insurance companies that want to control the future of Florida.
Tim Dickinson
Now I’ve done some reporting in Tallahassee on the influence of the utility companies in particular, and it’s a place that gets wired by special interests, and I… then I was looking today at Byron Donalds has taken… you know, not only money from, like, in-state interest, but also can Griffin, like, some billionaire heavyweights, Jeff Glass, what is that… is that the kind of guy who is going to be thinking about the average voter when it comes to make decisions?
David Jolly
Yeah, look, I’m a reformer. I’m actually for the public financing of campaigns. I introduced a bill in Congress to prohibit members of Congress from asking for money. This is a real heartbeat of kind of my reform agenda, but… and so I don’t mean this as a cheap shot. Byron Donalds has just been bought by every special interest. He’s a vessel, right? If it wasn’t Byron, they would find somebody else to try to buy, and what does that mean for people’s economic lives? It means that when the hedge funds who are gobbling up real estate to put party houses and Airbnb houses in your neighborhood, and Congress goes to limit that, Byron Donalds votes against the bill, the bipartisan bill, one of only, like, 20 candidates. When the for-profit schools and the funds that back the schools, the big hedge funds, want to come in and take over education, Byron Donalds takes their money, and then he’s a school choice champion. It means when the big data centers want to be built, and he takes the utility money and the big tech money and the developers, he gives away, in his words, Florida’s pristine lands to build data centers. There is a downstream impact of Byron Donald’s decision makings. Listen, I say this, and I understand it’s a hard hit. Byron Donalds will sell the governorship for a buck. He already has. You know, a lot of people talk about his past indiscretions. He had some run-ins with the law when he was, you know, in his 20s. I say, look, I’ll give him grace. I don’t need to litigate the fact that he sold drugs to young kids in his 20s. I’m more worried he’s selling the Florida governorship right now.
Tim Dickinson
You are charting sort of a centrist path. You’re a former Republican, and I wonder, does that give you, like, a way to message Democratic politics, to a broader audience?
David Jolly
It’s a great question. I’m really in a post-ideological place, right? Former Republican, 6 or 7 years as an independent, one of the most informative parts of my political journey. Today, I say I’m a proud Florida Democrat, not a reluctant one. I believe in the values of our party, that the economy should work for everyone. That where the private sector can’t solve some things, housing, healthcare, education, sure, there’s a role for government. That’s the way we’ve approached this for the last hundred years, and I think we should simply respect everybody’s privacy. Keep government out of your bedroom, out of your life. So those are democratic values. But I’ve also suggested that those values are bigger than our party. If you’re an independent or a Republican who’s looking for economic answers, look, I think we need a state catastrophic fund for insurance, to reduce insurance by 60-70%, homeowners insurance. I think we need to scale up workforce and affordable housing, we need to scale up the direct delivery of healthcare, and we need to celebrate education. The interesting thing is, a lot of those policies, you know, are some very bold agenda items that Democrats would typically really embrace, and they’re glad to hear me talk about it, but Republicans are saying, well, Jolly just makes business sense. Right, a state catastrophic fund for homeowners insurance recognizes that the market has collapsed in the natural disaster state. Scaling up workforce and affordable housing creates a more resilient economy. Making sure more people have primary healthcare improves qualitative outcomes, but reduced costs in a state that is currently 49th in avoidable hospital costs. A celebration of public education allows us to lead the world in education, but it also strengthens our economy and changes lives. This is where I don’t litigate the left-right spectrum. We have big problems that need big solutions. A lot of those are celebrated, those solutions are celebrated in the Democratic Party, but they’re just smart public policies that Republicans and independents can say, look, if this is the platform, count me in. That’s why if the election were tonight, we’d win.
Tim Dickinson
I think so. I saw that you have a running mate in this race, this is Gwen Graham, right? Yes. It’s a big name from Florida politics. Can you talk about that partnership?
David Jolly
Yeah, you know, sometimes the Florida Lieutenant Governor position is overlooked. I would make the case it’s always overlooked. I wanted to reshape the Lieutenant Governor position, and I found in Gwen, one, a longtime friend, but a governing partner, capable of leading the state in her own right. demonstrating that in a moment of crisis, that we could have somebody in the lieutenant governor position to help lead a renaissance in education, to begin to work on housing and healthcare and the other economic needs. But of course, she comes from a family, you know, that is just legend in Florida politics, not simply because of name, but because of service. Her father, Governor and senator Bob Graham, represented an era where the governor just lifted every community up, fought for everybody across the state of Florida. Gwen served in the United States Congress, continuing that legacy, and she’ll do that as our next Lieutenant Governor as well.
Tim Dickinson
Just this morning, I talked to Angie Nixon, who is obviously a politician from the left in the same party, and I can think about this in sort of two different ways. One is there’s two different kinds of candidates in the statewide ballot who could get everybody energized and carry Democrats to victory, or there could be some tension there, and I wonder how you think about running under the same tent with someone whose views might be quite different from yours.
David Jolly
Sure. You know, I’ve been out of politics for 10 years. I say I’ve been out of politics long enough to tell the truth. And you’re exactly right. Angie Nixon and I are very different candidates in some respects. So, look, I reject socialism. I’m capitalist. I reject the DSA. I don’t agree with the values of the DSA. Here’s what I do know about Angie Nixon. Just as I’ve been in every community around the state, so has she. She’s been in every community, in every town hall, in every civic center, talking about improving people’s economic fortunes and improving their life, whether it’s housing, healthcare, education. So I think there’s going to be areas where you’re going to see all of our Democratic nominees focused on the affordability crisis, but with specific solutions in housing, healthcare, and education. But let’s keep it real, keep it honest. There are going to be some areas where Angie and I have strong disagreements. Now, a lot of those disagreements are also the differences between a Senate race and a governor’s race. So I don’t need to worry about those disagreements as much as I need to worry about what’s the future of Florida as the next governor. And look, I would also say, politically, I’m not running for governor to referee a family conversation in the Democratic Party. I’m running to… I’m not. I’m running to lead the state of Florida as a Democratic governor, and when I do that. I demonstrate how I think that the Democratic Party can continue to grow, and can continue to lead.
Tim Dickinson
As you reflect back on 8 years now of DeSantis governance, what are the top things that come to mind in terms of approaches that would be very different?
David Jolly
Well, let’s start with where we’re the same, because Florida’s a state of incredible economic growth. We should continue it. I want South Florida to be the finance capital of the world. I want us to continue to bring in jobs and industry. But I think where the real difference is, is there has not been the concentration, call it, on the middle class, or those in most need of economic growth and economic mobility. You could argue, statistically, we’re becoming the Hamptons in too many parts of Florida. Where those who are doing well continue to do well, but others are being kind of frozen out by this K-shaped recovery. You’re losing your home because of an insurance market that Tallahassee and DeSantis have really refused to do anything about. You can’t live in the community in which you work because we haven’t invested in workforce and affordable housing. You can’t get healthcare because we have not sufficiently funded the clinics that can provide primary healthcare. And we’re a state that’s attacked and abandoned education, public education. So, a lot of differences there. I would also say everyone knows Florida’s the home of the culture war. I just think it should end. Look, I’m a person of deep Christian faith. I speak of that often. I recognize my role of governor is to protect the religious liberty of everybody, whether you practice a faith or not. But I say it because whether it’s rooted in faith that you believe everybody deserves dignity, or whether it is Jefferson’s natural rights of man, we gotta get past the culture wars, be a state where everyone’s welcome and everyone’s lifted up.
Tim Dickinson
I’ve seen you talk about, reverting back to more local control, and I mean, the Republican Party that I sort of saw growing up was about getting, you know, getting government off your back, not getting them in your community, but having liberty from government, and the focus seems to have changed, where the government’s now trying to get in here and say, you can’t paint a crosswalk with rainbow colors or something. That’s right. So help me understand how you see a tradition, sort of like a through line in your views about local control.
David Jolly
Yeah, look, I call it big government conservatism right now. You’re seeing it in Washington, you’re seeing it in Tallahassee. And, you know, one of the reasons we’re bringing so many Republicans over is not only do I still believe in some of the tenets that I had when I was a Republican, but I actually defend them more than Republicans do today. Two big examples. Yeah, look, two big examples are local control. Remember the language, government closest to the people knows best. I think the state should have a very limited role when it comes to local decisions. The only areas really being in environmental protections that have an outsized impact on the state’s natural resources, particularly water, and then obviously in areas of protecting personal liberty if a community were to move in a direction that violates personal liberty. But otherwise, the role of the state is to invest in and to fund the priorities of local communities And let them determine how to grow their own community, how to celebrate their own. The other language I use about ending the culture wars is really old-school Republican-libertarian language. Just keep government out of your life, out of your bedroom, out of your doctor’s office, out of your library. And so, you know, Republicans say, oh, jolly, he’s this radical. I’m not a radical, I’m an old-school Republican. I’m not even cool. And the language I use sounds familiar to a lot of old-school Republicans who are saying, wait a minute. This guy, Jolly, he’s a Democrat, but he’s talking about local control. He’s talking about keeping government out of your life. He’s a capitalist that believes in the private sector, but recognizes Where there are gaps, there is a role for government in housing, healthcare, and education. Maybe it’s how our politics used to be, right? I was a bit of a Bush 41 Republican. I think I probably never really strayed from there. You could pull some progressive or some conservative votes and say, oh, Jolly, was this, that, or the other. My roots are kind of in that Bush 41 era, and I’ll tell you this, the funny thing is, that was the first major campaign I worked on, Bush 41. And in 92, you know, we were told Clinton was the devil, and Clinton was radical, and Clinton wanted to nationalize healthcare, and gays in the military, and all this stuff, and as a young campaign staffer, I thought, oh, we gotta beat Bill Clinton, right? You look at it now, I’m not sure what the difference was between Bush 41 and Bill Clinton. Back in the day when our politics actually had this… the VIN diagram overlapped at least enough that we all agreed the economy should grow, government had some role, whatever you thought that role might be, and yes, let’s extend liberty and dignity to the most number of people. Look, it’s a story of our national trend in politics over the last 30 years, but I think there’s a coalition now emerging in American politics. It’s starting right here in Florida, big enough to change the future of the country.
Tim Dickinson
Well, David, it’s been just extraordinary to talk to you. Thank you so much for your time. Do you have any closing thoughts you want to leave with our listeners and our viewers?
David Jolly
Now, keep an eye on Florida. We can win this race, we’re up in the polls, and sure, I need your help. If you like what you hear, go to davidjolly.com, be a part of our campaign.
Tim Dickinson
Alright, well, thank you for joining us on the Contrarian. We’ll see you next time.
David Jolly
Thank you. Good to be with you.
Tim Dickinson
Good to be with you.
