Byron Donalds to Face David Jolly in Florida Governor’s Race: What They Say on Property Taxes

Florida voters will choose between two prospective governors with differing views of the state's housing market and approach to property taxes.

GOP Rep. Byron Donalds and David Jolly, a Republican turned Democrat, both overwhelmingly beat out the field to win their respective parties' gubernatorial nominations in Tuesday's primary. Jolly captured 61% of the Democratic vote and Donalds 48% of the Republican vote.

They each campaigned on solving the state's property insurance crisis, lowering housing costs, and improving affordability. But they have sharply opposed views on a Republican-led push to virtually eliminate property taxes for Florida homeowners.

On Nov. 3, Florida voters will decide who replaces term-limited Gov. Ron DeSantis. They will also weigh in on Amendment 3, a ballot measure backed by the current governor to phase out property taxes for many owner-occupied homes.

The state's economists believe the measure could deprive local governments of $124 million in revenue, hitting some small counties especially hard. It's now the subject of multiple lawsuits.

Donalds has said he supports the measure, but also wants to focus the relief to help seniors and working families. Jolly has been less supportive of the measure, arguing that local communities should control exemptions.

"Whether Amendment 3 passes or fails, we are going to reform property taxes in our state with a goal of eliminating homestead property taxes once and for all," Donalds said in a speech Tuesday night.

"We're a state gripped by an affordability crisis and exhausted by culture wars," Jolly said in a video posted Tuesday night. "People want change."

The two prospective governors each have a different view on how to help build more housing in the state. The Florida State University’s DeVoe L. Moore Institute estimates the state needs 121,000 new housing units to restore its market to where it was before the 2008 subprime mortgage crisis.

Where they stand on property tax, data centers and more

Donalds favors reducing regulatory and legal mandates from the government that drive up the cost of building new homes. "On housing, we are going to slash red tape so that whether you're a young worker starting out, or a growing family or a senior on fixed income, you can actually buy and afford a home," he said.

Jolly supports more investments in workforce and affordable housing, while also bolstering rental building in the state. He's said some of the state's current tools for developing housing need to be scaled up, in order to increase production.

As for the state's routinely sky-high property insurance costs, the Tampa Bay Times reported that Jolly favors removing disaster coverage from private markets and requiring the state to assume loss coverage from disasters like hurricanes. That could entail a new tax on real estate transactions or pulling tourism revenue.

Donalds said Tuesday night he supports a "public scorecard" of every insurance company in the state that tracks how fast they pay claims, and their denial rates. He said he believes such a measure would increase competition in the state which would lower costs.

When it comes to data centers, both candidates favor restrictions. Jolly has proposed a full moratorium on data centers, and he said the state should develop a plan for how they would impact water, power, and neighborhoods.

Donalds has been more supportive of the data center industry, but with guardrails. He has said he wants to mandate closed-loop systems for water and require setbacks to keep data centers from being built too close to neighborhoods.