09/04/2026
🇺🇸Byron Donalds says Florida faces ‘common sense vs. crazy’ choice. (great in-depth article)
DELRAY BEACH, Fla. — U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds told a packed crowd Wednesday that Florida’s governor’s race is “a choice between common sense and crazy,” pledging to keep insurance costs falling, reject Sharia law and build on Gov. Ron DeSantis’ record as he opened a question-and-answer stop on his “Defending the Florida Dream” tour.
Donalds, the Republican nominee, spoke at the Dr. André Fladell Civic Center 62 days before the Nov. 3 general election against Democrat David Jolly, a former Republican congressman.
The appearance came a day after DeSantis formally endorsed Donalds at a Republican leadership forum in Tampa, ending a long stretch in which the two men had kept their distance. Donalds already carries President Donald Trump’s endorsement.
Former Boca Raton Mayor Scott Singer, the Republican nominee in Florida’s 25th Congressional District, and state Rep. Toby Overdorf introduced Donalds. Singer called him “an American success story” who rose from Brooklyn and would keep “woke” ideology out of schools, the military and public institutions. Overdorf said Donalds “was like E.F. Hutton” in the Florida House, and said that “when [Donalds] talked, people listened.”
Donalds said campaigns come and go, but leadership is “taking people to a place they probably wouldn’t have gotten to on their own.” He cited DeSantis’ decision to reopen Florida during the COVID-19 pandemic over the objections of Dr. Anthony Fauci and contrasted that with Jolly, who he said left the state and later praised Fauci’s judgment on MSNBC.
“Anybody who chose Fauci over Florida does not have the judgment to lead our state into the future,” Donalds said.
He promised that as governor he would “look at the data, look at the information,” use “logic” and “wisdom,” and protect Floridians’ “constitutional rights.”
Insurance, Affordability Top Voters’ Concerns
Residents asked him about pocketbook issues that have defined the campaign.
A questioner cited Office of Insurance Regulation figures showing the state’s five largest auto insurers, covering about 78% of the market, posted average rate decreases of 6.5% in 2025 and another 8% for 2026. He asked Donalds to preserve Florida’s no-fault personal injury protection law or explain a replacement that would not erase those savings.
Donalds said DeSantis-era reforms are already lowering auto and property rates and that he would keep those changes. He has not decided the future of PIP coverage, he said, and would study the auto market as closely as homeowners insurance. The goal, he said, is coverage people can actually use.
“You can have the best policy in the world, but if you don’t have the cash to access the policy, you got a piece of paper,” Donalds said.
On condominiums, several speakers described soaring special assessments after the 2021 Surfside collapse and weak oversight by the Department of Business and Professional Regulation. Donalds said there is “no easy solution,” warned that mandatory assessments are pricing owners out of their homes and said the state should explore outside capital for repairs on older buildings. He said he would not have the state seize private associations, but he was open to a working group that produced “actionable items” for the Legislature.
He supported a November property-tax amendment and said that if it fails, he would use the state’s Taxation and Budget Reform Commission next year to seek broader relief or target seniors and working families.
Asked about data centers, Donalds listed existing state limits: utility bills cannot rise because of a data center; facilities must use closed-loop systems and, where available, reclaimed water; they should not sit next to homes; and counties keep the final say on permits.
“If a county doesn’t want it, that’s the decision of that county commission and the people in that county,” he said.
Donalds Pitches Conservative Approach on Education, Courts
A Jewish college student asked how he would keep antisemitism off campuses. Donalds said Florida “will not tolerate antisemitism or bigotry at all.” He described walking through a 2024 protest encampment at George Washington University and said confronting demonstrators helped shame local officials into clearing the site.
On judges, he said he would look for “direct fidelity to the Constitution and to the law,” not jurists who “feel it’s their duty to reinterpret law.”
On the next generation, Donalds said children must master reading, writing and math and that college is not the only path. He promoted apprenticeships and trades, including auto technician, welding, electrical, plumbing, HVAC and emerging engineering-tech jobs that can pay $80,000 to $110,000 a year without six-figure debt. Government permitting, he said, accounts for about 30% of the cost of a new home and must be sped up.
A Second Amendment questioner argued Florida law inconsistently treats force-reset triggers on semi-automatic ri**es. Donalds called himself a Second Amendment “absolutist” and said he would review the statute.
Donalds Takes Hard Line on Sharia, Antisemitism
Near the end, a supporter asked how he would stop what she called an effort to “Islamify” Florida and invoked the Muslim Brotherhood. Donalds said “radical Islam is not compatible with Western civilization,” pointed to Western Europe as a warning and said “epic cities” and Sharia as a governing framework have “no place” in Florida.
“We are a nation based on Judeo-Christian values, and that’s non-negotiable,” he said, adding that God’s covenant with Israel precedes Christianity and that Western civilization has lifted more people from poverty than any other system.
He closed by calling the Democratic Party “crazy” and urging voters to keep Florida “a common sense conservative state” and “a law and order state.”
Donalds Addresses Hope Florida, Flock and DeSantis Relationship
In a press gaggle after the event, Donalds said he would not reopen an investigation into Hope Florida, the charity tied to first lady Casey DeSantis that became the subject of legislative and grand-jury reviews over the use of Medicaid settlement money.
“There’s now been two independent investigations,” he said. Even the Democratic attorney general nominee, he added, has said another probe is unnecessary. He said he would work with senators from both parties on reforms.
On affordability in Palm Beach County, he listed four steps: more insurance regulatory changes aimed at cutting costs another 20%; property-tax relief through the ballot measure or the tax commission; hospital and doctor price transparency, including posted cash prices for the top 20 services; and faster, cheaper housing permits.
On Flock Safety license-plate cameras, he sided with DeSantis’ order removing them from public rights of way.
“The Fourth Amendment’s not up for debate. The privacy of our people is not up for debate,” he said. Law enforcement can have tools, he added, but “we’re not going to have a surveillance state in Florida.”
Asked about his relationship with DeSantis after the endorsement, Donalds said it is “good,” that the two had spoken and met recently.
“Governor DeSantis has done a great job for our state. He kept our state open and free when everybody else was saying no,” he said. The task now, he added, is staying No. 1.
Asked by Florida’s Voice if his public relationship with DeSantis affects any changes to his campaign or Republican turnout, Donalds said that having the governor behind his campaign is “something that just helps to unify the party.”
“I think Republicans are going to be unified heading into November, and that’s what we need to do,” Donalds told Florida’s Voice. “Every election cycle is different.”
Pressed on whether Muslims feel unwelcome after his remarks about Sharia, Donalds said practicing Muslims who “respect our way of life and our culture” have “no issues.” The line, he said, is a separate governing structure.
“There is one rule of law. There is one constitution,” he said. “If you come to our country and you respect that and assimilate to that, then there’s no problems.”
Florida Voice News / Frank Kopylov / September 3, 2026
