Election 2026 Florida
Mayor Ken Welch answered questions from Tampa Bay Times reporter Colleen Wright after Welch addressed supporters after the election was called with him coming in second place and heading to a run off on primary election day at his reelection watch party at the St. Petersburg Fire Union Hall in St. Petersburg, Fla. on Tuesday, Aug. 18, 2026./Tampa Bay Times via AP)
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U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds has won the Republican nomination for Florida governor and former Rep. David Jolly has picked up the Democratic nod, setting the stage for a fall campaign to replace outgoing Gov. Ron DeSantis and decide the state's future political direction. Donalds would become Florida's first Black governor if elected. Jolly is a former Republican congressman who switched parties last year. Also Tuesday, progressive state Rep. Angie Nixon won the Democratic nomination and will face the GOP pick, Sen. Ashley Moody, in a special election for the last two years of Marco Rubio's Senate term. Rubio left the Senate last year to become secretary of state.
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