The ballot for the Florida governor’s seat, currently held by Ron DeSantis, is getting crowded as Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings has filed to run, Politico reports.
A well-known central Democratic political figure will challenge former U.S. Rep. David Jolly for the Democratic nomination. Demings has spent several years serving the Sunshine State, serving as Orange County mayor since 2018 and working nine years as Orange County sheriff. His political career also includes his marriage to former Congresswoman Val Demings, who lost a bid for the U.S. Senate to now-Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Demings filed his gubernatorial campaign on Halloween 2025, a decision that marked the first time in Florida’s history that both parties have Black gubernatorial nominees.
His red-party opponent is President Donald Trump-endorsed Rep. Byron Donalds, known for his conservative values and campaigning for Trump during the 2024 presidential election season. Like clockwork, following Demings’ announcement, Republicans and the Donalds’ campaign began targeting Demings, claiming his “entire campaign will be about fighting President Trump and his policies that are making Florida safer and stronger.”
“Jerry Demings is weak. He’s woke. And he’s wrong for Florida,” said Donalds’ campaign’s Chief Strategist Ryan Smith.
The Republican Governors Association (RGA) slammed both Demings and Jolly, who was once a registered Republican, according to the Tallahassee Democrat. “Florida Democrats are clearly unimpressed with David Jolly’s Charlie Crist impersonation and find themselves failing to find a candidate for governor who has been a Democrat for more than five minutes,” RGA spokeswoman Courtney Alexander said in a statement.
“So, into this talentless chasm of despair steps the one man who wants to run for literally anything that isn’t his current job: Jerry Demings.”
However, Demings seemingly isn’t letting the chatter deter him, as there are rumors that he has top-notch political leaders on his campaign, including key staffer Dylan Doody, former executive director of the Texas House Democratic Campaign Committee. His resume also lists work on campaigns in Minnesota, Virginia, and Pennsylvania.
At 66, the mayor would be the first Black Democrat to run for governor since Andrew Gillum, who unsuccessfully ran against DeSantis in 2018. Hopefully, the upcoming election will boost Black voter turnout in the primarily red-leaning state. In recent elections, data show that Black voters, comprising 13% of active registered voters, have slacked in voter participation–the demographic accounts for just under one-third of voters who support the Democratic Party.
Demings is scheduled to officially announce his candidacy at a rally on Nov. 6.
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