Democratic candidate David Jolly is skipping all debates with his Republican opponent in the race for Florida governor.
Jolly announced his decision on Sunday, a little over six weeks before the general election. He accused Rep. Byron Donalds (R-FL) of peddling “repeated lies” and acting in “bad faith.” For that reason, Jolly argued the debates “would not create constructive, honest conversation and only further stoke division, animosity, and bad will.”
“We accepted multiple debates before this week,” he said. “Byron refused them and instead set his own rules by press release. His ads and allegations have repeatedly been found to be false, and it is clear he is simply looking for avenues to continue misleading Florida’s voters.”
Jolly accepted two debates with Tampa Bay Tiger Bay and CBS Miami, and Donalds accepted three different debates to be put on by Telemundo and NBC 6, Spectrum News, and News4Jax.
Since none of their debate invitations overlapped, the Democratic candidate decided to do away with the general election debates altogether. He was previously open to debating Donalds before Florida’s Aug. 18 primary elections. Donalds criticized his opponent for rejecting his debate offers.
“What happened to ‘a dozen times?’” Donalds posted on X, referencing Jolly’s past willingness to debate. “David has no substance. He just wants to talk in soundbites for his next MSNBC gig.”
Meanwhile, Jolly slammed the congressman for declining to debate his Republican primary opponents.
“I know Byron will complain about this,” Jolly said, “but as he said to his GOP primary opponents when he repeatedly declined their requests to debate, ‘it’s not my job’ to platform his campaign.”
Donalds ultimately won his primary by more than 20 points against the closest competitor, Lt. Gov. Jay Collins (R-FL). Pre-primary polls also showed a double-digit lead, so it’s likely that Donalds saw no need to debate candidates he was confident in defeating.
The Florida Republican has turned his attention to the general election in which he will face Jolly, a former Republican congressman. Jolly registered as a Democrat before launching his gubernatorial campaign last year.
One of the latest general election polls shows both candidates in a dead-heat race, with Donalds leading by 1 point. Another post-primary poll shows Jolly with a 3-point lead.
It remains to be seen if Donalds can leverage his endorsements from President Donald Trump and Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) in the final weeks of his campaign to beat Jolly.
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The race for Florida governor is not the only statewide election contest that may see no debates this election cycle.
Sen. Ashley Moody (R-FL) turned down at least one of three debate proposals as she seeks to defend her seat from Florida state Rep. Angie Nixon. Moody said she doesn’t intend to debate this fall because of her opponent’s socialist views.