Florida Governor Candidate Donalds talks affordability, property taxes 

The Florida gubernatorial candidate outlined proposals on insurance, taxes, public safety, and growth while taking questions from attendees.

At a campaign rally in Okaloosa County, Florida gubernatorial candidate and sitting Congressman for a southwest Florida District Byron Donalds presented himself as a conservative who would build on the state’s recent record while focusing on affordability, public safety and government accountability. Donalds faces Democrat David Jolly in the November 3 midterm elections. Jolly has a virtual campaign event with Destin Mayor Bobby Wagner on Friday, October 2.

The event opened with a prayer and the Pledge of Allegiance and stump speeches of support from Sheriff Eric Aden, as well as State Representatives Patt Maney (R | Shalimar) and Michelle Salzman (R | Pensacola). 

While many in the crowd wore Make America Great Again paraphernalia, the President’s name was not mentioned during the course of the rally – in line with recent reporting Donalds had taken references to the president off his campaign website. 

Earlier this year, President Trump endorsed Donalds in the primary, which experts say gave him a distinct advantage in August’s Republican Primary.  

But with the president’s waning poll numbers nationally, experts say candidates in general elections are creating distance between themselves and the President in a move they hope will make them more electable. 

What stays the same in a Donalds Governorship

Donalds said his approach as governor would be to continue what he described as Florida’s success while making government more accountable and less intrusive. He praised Governor Ron DeSantis’s decision to reopen the state during the COVID-19 pandemic and said his own administration would seek to preserve Florida’s “free state” identity.

Affordability was a central theme. Donalds said his insurance proposal is intended to lower premiums by 20 percent, in part by maintaining existing tort reforms and changing a surcharge connected to the state’s catastrophe fund. He also proposed making permits automatic for rebuilding homes and businesses after a disaster, arguing that property owners should not have to repeat the permitting process for structures already approved.

Amendment 3, property taxes, and paying for law enforcement

On property taxes, Donalds said he supports Amendment 3s inclusion on the November ballot. He told reporters after the event that he supports eliminating homestead property taxes, but if that is not achievable, he wants meaningful relief for seniors and working families 

The amendment, which could eventually eliminate property tax in Florida if it passes with more than 60% of the vote, has frustrated local government leaders who rely on property taxes for revenue to pay employees and fund road construction and other mandates. 

Donalds said the amendment would require local governments to prioritize public safety and law enforcement in their spending. 

For fiscally constrained counties with smaller tax bases like Holmes, Washington or Jackson Counties, he said the state could establish a funding formula to help ensure they have the resources to maintain public safety

He noted in a response to a follow-up question that he would oppose the use of tourism development funds to shore up losses to local governments if property taxes are eliminated. He said tourism funds are spoken for and have agreed-upon uses and that local governments should budget accordingly. “You just can’t keep raising local taxes and just assuming that people can continue to pay it,” Donalds told a press gaggle after the campaign event before leaving for another event in Port St. Joe, “Because talk to a senior citizen; their budgets have been doubled over the last seven years. Working families, their budgets have been doubled over the last seven years. So I think all governments have to be mindful of the fact that people just can’t just pay more in taxes just because the property values went higher, we have to be mindful of that,” Donalds said. 

Donalds said that, regardless of the outcome, he would bring tax and fee issues to the state’s Tax and Budget Reform Commission for review. He also said the state should consider how to fund public safety in fiscally constrained counties if property-tax revenue changes.

Data Centers and School Choice

Donalds also addressed questions about data centers and school choice. He said local governments should retain authority over whether data centers are allowed in their communities and cited state requirements intended to prevent those facilities’ utility costs from being passed on to other customers. 

On school funding, he said Florida should modernize its student-counting and payment system so that funding follows students more promptly as they move between traditional public and choice schools.

The rally’s message was a mix of campaign promises and appeals to local concerns: lower costs, improved infrastructure planning, support for law enforcement and more scrutiny of government spending. Donalds told the crowd that his campaign would continue taking questions at events across the state, presenting direct voter engagement as a contrast with his opponent, David Jolly.