MIAMI.– Congressman and candidate for governor of Florida Byron Donalds made an urgent call to his party to return to the fundamentals of electoral work in the face of the surprising Democratic victories in two recent special elections in the state.
The Naples legislator expressed concern about the lack of mobilization of the citizen bases and asked the conservative ranks to abandon digital distractions with the primary objective of avoiding future defeats.
The statement by Donalds, favorite in the polls in the race for Florida governor, would reflect the fear of losing political ground at a time of transition of Republican leadership within the state Congress.
Media disputes
In an interview released by his campaign team, the candidate warned about the enormous damage caused by the so-called “podcast wars” between conservative figures and “pessimistic opinionators.”
Donalds said that he considers these virtual confrontations “completely irrelevant” to the success of the party and stressed the urgency of prioritizing territorial deployment along with concrete initiatives to encourage citizen participation.
The politician emphasized to his co-partisans the impossibility of taking electoral victory for granted simply by broadcasting television advertisements or sending massive text messages to voters.
Alarms after defeats
The congressman’s statements come just after the unexpected electoral setbacks suffered by the Republican Party at the state level.
In Senate District 14, Democrat Brian Nathan beat Republican State Rep. Josie Tomkow, while in House District 87, Democrat Emily Gregory beat conservative Jon Maples.
This last result generated particular concern in the Republican machinery since the defeated candidate had the direct support of President Donald Trump.
DeSantis shadow
The current situation would show internal tensions exacerbated by the rigid stance of the outgoing governor, Ron DeSantis, in the face of these recent contests.
Various sectors of the right criticized the absence of the state president in the campaigns of the defeated candidates and demanded greater institutional support to protect the majority.
For his part, DeSantis chose to issue a warning to party members and hinted at greater obstacles in the primary and general elections for those who decide to deviate from his political agenda.
