Byron Donalds says Florida Democratic rival David Jolly flipped core positions for political convenience, and Jolly’s own 2016 words against Charlie Crist now undercut him.
Republican Congressman Byron Donalds is pressing Democratic gubernatorial opponent David Jolly over a string of position shifts on abortion, immigration, health care, and energy, and he is using Jolly’s own past language to do it.
In an interview with Fox News Digital, Donalds argued that Jolly’s moves are not rooted in conviction. He said they track the former Republican’s decision to run again as a Democrat in a tightening Florida governor’s race.
Donalds won the Republican primary for governor on Tuesday, Aug. 18, 2026. RealClearPolitics’ average gives him a nearly 4-point lead. Florida has backed President Donald Trump in each of the last three presidential cycles by wide margins, and Trump gave Donalds an early endorsement. Jolly is trying to become the first Democrat to win the Florida governor’s race since Lawton Chiles won re-election in 1994.
Ten years ago, then-Republican Jolly ran against Democrat Charlie Crist for Congress. Jolly attacked Crist for changing positions on abortion after switching parties.
Jolly said then:
"You were pro-choice, then you were pro-life, then you were pro-choice. It was only after you switched parties that you switched your position. This was not a matter of conviction for you; it was for political convenience,"
Donalds now applies that same standard to Jolly.
Donalds told Fox News Digital:
"The shift in positions by David Jolly is not because of personal conviction, it is purely because of political convenience,"
He went further:
"What you find with David Jolly is somebody who's done a complete 180 simply to run for office again and to gain relevance again and the people of Florida simply cannot trust David Jolly because we cannot afford David Jolly’s flip-flopping when it comes to the great state of Florida,"
As a Republican member of Congress, Jolly authored legislation to defund Planned Parenthood. He co-sponsored fetal-personhood legislation. He voted for a federal 20-week abortion ban. He said he believed “life begins at conception.”
As a Democratic candidate for governor, Jolly calls himself “pro-choice.” He supports codifying the Roe v. Wade framework and says he would veto legislation restricting abortion access.
On immigration, the Republican-era Jolly campaigned on securing the border. He supported tighter screening for Syrian and Iraqi refugees and voted for the American SAFE Act.
Now he says the country should have “wide gates.” He has called the Republican link between immigration and crime “gross,” “immoral,” and “wrong.”
Donalds also flagged health care. He said:
"When David Jolly was in Congress, he opposed Obamacare," "Now trying to run for governor, he wants to expand Obamacare in Florida. I mean, these are just some of the complete shifts that we've seen in what he stands for."
Those are not small adjustments. They reverse the positions Jolly held when he last sought federal office as a Republican.
Donalds also hammered Jolly over lobbying tied to offshore drilling after the Deepwater Horizon disaster in the Gulf.
The spill left oil and tar balls along roughly 178 miles of Florida coastline. Northwest Florida lost an estimated 1.88 million planned recreational visits. The hit included $1.3 billion in visitor spending, $2.04 billion in economic output, and more than 20,000 job-years.
Within a year of that damage, Jolly’s lobbying firm, Three Bridges Advisors, listed H.R. 909, the Roadmap for America’s Energy Future, among 2011 lobbying work for Free Enterprise Nation. That bill could have expanded offshore drilling in the Gulf of Mexico. Jolly wrote a post on the group’s website stating the organization was “advocating for” the legislation.
Donalds put it this way:
"Deepwater Horizon exploded in the Gulf of America, David Jolly went and became a lobbyist for more oil drilling off the coast of Florida, that is a fact and so, what we're seeing is a history of somebody who does everything possible, will say whatever, will be paid by whomever that are only in the interest of David Jolly."
Jolly has said he had “never lobbied for offshore drilling.” PolitiFact rated that claim “Mostly False.” The fact-check found Jolly acknowledged attending a meeting where the bill was discussed, and lobbying experts said that technically counted as lobbying.
Donalds has agreed to three proposed debates. Jolly previously accepted two other debate invitations. He has now ruled out participating in debates this cycle.
Donalds said:
"Now he's ducking debates," "He won't debate me because he knows that on a debate stage, I will hold him accountable for these things."
Jolly has hit Donalds on data centers and what he calls a culture-war focus. On April 9, 2026, Jolly spoke at the National Action Network’s 35th Anniversary Convention in New York. Fox News Digital sought comment from the Jolly campaign.
Voters can weigh the record without the spin. A candidate who once blasted party-switchers for convenience now faces the same charge. A former Republican who wrote bills to defund Planned Parenthood and backed a 20-week ban now brands himself pro-choice and promises to veto limits. A border-security voter now favors “wide gates.” An Obamacare opponent now wants expansion. And a denial on offshore-drilling lobbying drew a “Mostly False” rating after the firm’s own filings and website post.
Florida has not elected a Democratic governor since 1994. Polls show the race tightening, but the gap remains. Donalds holds the lead, the primary win, and the Trump endorsement. Jolly holds a long list of reversed positions and a 2016 quote that no longer lands the way he intended.
Voters who prize consistency should not have to guess which version of a candidate will show up after Election Day.
