David
Jolly

At a campaign event with Miami's Haitian community on October 11, Jolly promised immigration protections, according to WLRN reporting.

Reporting examined Jolly's strategy of appealing to Republican voters in Florida's governor's race, with no joint debate agreed upon as of October 10.

A James Madison Institute poll released October 9 showed Donalds with a 52%-42% lead over Jolly, a wider margin than several other recent surveys.

As of October 9, the two campaigns had not agreed on a joint debate. Donalds's campaign said it had accepted forums on September 29, October 13, and October 22; Jolly's campaign said it had not been consulted on those terms and had accepted different proposals.

A St. Pete Polls survey conducted October 5–7 found Donalds and Jolly tied at 45% each among likely voters, with the general election four weeks away.

Multiple polls released around October 7 showed a tightening race. A Mason-Dixon/NBC6 poll had Donalds ahead 48%-41%; a YouGov poll had Donalds at 47% to Jolly's 45%; and a St. Pete Polls survey found the race deadlocked at 45%-45%.

In coverage comparing the candidates' positions on AI, data centers, and Amendment 3, Jolly's first-day data center moratorium was reiterated and he proposed targeted property-tax relief including an exemption of up to $250,000 for first-time homebuyers.

Jolly cleared $1 million raised in a single week with the help of public matching funds, but the total still left him far behind Donalds's fundraising pace heading into the final stretch of the campaign.

A poll showed Jolly leading Donalds by 26 points among Broward County voters, illustrating his strength in heavily Democratic South Florida even as statewide polls remained competitive.

Coverage highlighted the contrasting policy platforms of Jolly and Donalds as the Florida governor's race drew increased national attention.

Jolly publicly acknowledged the significant fundraising disparity with Donalds. As of late September, Donalds and an aligned committee had raised a combined $134.4 million compared with $16.7 million for Jolly and his political committee.

Eric Holder endorsed Jolly through the National Democratic Redistricting Committee's Democracy Defenders program on September 28.

Jolly and Donalds each appeared in separate back-to-back sessions at an economic summit hosted by WLRN. Jolly again advocated for a state-backed hurricane wind-coverage fund intended to lower insurance costs; Donalds's campaign disputed its likely costs.

Jolly reiterated his first-day moratorium on hyperscale data center construction. Separately, he said he would not debate Donalds, citing what he called Donalds's 'repeated lies and bad faith' making debates unconstructive.

PolitiFact reported that the study cited in a Donalds ad claiming Jolly's plan would cost families $1,000 per year did not actually evaluate Jolly's proposal; it examined a different 2024 Florida House proposal. Jolly has said his state wind-coverage fund would lower premiums.

Jolly publicly outlined a goal of raising $15 million to spend by October and acknowledged facing difficulty connecting with Black voters, a key Democratic constituency.

Jolly announced he would impose an immediate moratorium on hyperscale data center construction in Florida on his first day as governor. He also called for reopening scrutiny of the Hope Florida matter, involving the transfer of funds from a Medicaid settlement.

Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries endorsed David Jolly and Gwen Graham for Florida governor and lieutenant governor, as announced by the Jolly campaign on September 12.

A Donalds campaign ad described Jolly's homeowners-insurance proposal as a yearly '$1,000 hurricane tax' per Florida family. Jolly rejected the characterization, arguing a state wind-coverage fund would reduce premiums. PolitiFact later reported the study cited in the ad did not evaluate Jolly's plan but a different 2024 Florida House proposal.

Jolly won the August 18 Democratic primary with approximately 61% of the vote. He is the Democratic nominee for governor, running with Gwen Graham as his lieutenant governor candidate, facing the November 3 general election against Republican Byron Donalds.