Former Tampa Bay US Rep. David Jolly announced his plans to run for Florida governor on Thursday.
Jolly will be running as a Democrat in the 2026 gubernatorial election.
“We have an affordability crisis in Florida driven by an insurance crisis that continues to worsen in the face of complete neglect by Tallahassee. We have abandoned public education, and we’ve allowed corruption to run rampant. It’s time for a change,” he said in a press release.
Jolly said some of the issues he will look into include property insurance premiums, expensive housing, access to quality schools, and safer communities.
Before joining the Democratic party in April 2025, Jolly served as the U.S. representative for Florida's 13th congressional district from 2014 to 2017 as a Republican, but left the party in 2018. He was born in Dunedin and currently lives in Belleair Bluffs, Florida.
It's been one year since Hurricane Milton impacted our community. Tampa Bay 28 revisited some of Tampa Bay's hardest hit areas to show the recovery and the work that still needs to be done.
