Republican Byron Donalds has been projected as the winner of Florida's 2026 gubernatorial election, defeating Democrat David Jolly, according to the Associated Press. Earlier on Tuesday, November 3, Jolly led with 50.9% of the vote (2,429,979), compared with Donalds' 48.5% (2,314,210), according to CNN figures published at 7:32 p.m. Eastern Time, when 58% of the vote had been counted. Those figures represented preliminary results and do not reflect the final outcome.
According to CNN's preliminary count at 7:32 p.m. ET, a total of 4,776,295 votes had been counted:
At 7:30 p.m. ET, the Associated Press had not yet projected a winner. Florida's initial returns included early and mail-in ballots, which can differ from votes counted later in the evening. According to the preliminary figures, Jolly's lead narrowed from 6.3 to 2.9 percentage points as the reported count increased from 49% to 56%. The AP subsequently projected Donalds as the winner.
Election Day began without widespread long lines, although rain forced changes at some polling locations. Read more in Elections in the United States begin without long lines, but rain forces changes in polling stations.
Election update: The Associated Press has projected Byron Donalds as the winner of Florida's gubernatorial election. The vote totals listed above are retained as a historical snapshot from 7:32 p.m. ET and are not final certified results.
Sources: CNN election results, AP election coverage, EFE, AP Florida governor's race.
