Democratic nominee for Florida governor David Jolly declines debates with Byron Donalds

A debate in Florida’s race for governor appears to be off the table after Democratic nominee David Jolly said he will not face Republican nominee Byron Donalds on the debate stage.

Jolly’s campaign announced the decision on Sunday.

On his X account, Jolly said “You can’t debate a liar.”

Responding to Jolly, Donalds, on his X account, said he agreed to three debates, while Jolly agreed to 12.

Both candidates accepted multiple debate invitations last week, but their campaigns never reached an agreement on a shared stage.

Jaime Florez with the Republican National Committee argued Jolly is looking for a way out.

“He’s going to be ashamed of not being prepared to be the next governor of the state of Florida,” he said. “So probably that’s the reason why he decided not to participate in the debates.”

Debate drama isn’t new in Florida. During the 2014 governor’s race, Rick Scott initially refused to take the stage against Charlie Crist because of a dispute over debate rules, creating one of the most memorable moments of that campaign.

While voters have grown accustomed to the tradition of debates, NBC6 political analyst Alex Penelas says the impact on voters is limited.

“These debates at the end of the day, it’s been shown, have very little impact on the outcome of these elections,” said Penelas. Like other political observers, Penelas noted that voters today have countless ways to learn about candidates, from social media feeds to traditional news coverage.

He said he was surprised to see Jolly decline a debate but says the decision could be part of a broader strategy focused on turning out voters rather than a television moment.

“Voters want to send a message to the White House that they’re not happy with the way things are going in this country. And one way of sending that message is by electing a Democrat governor in the president’s home state,” said Penelas.

While the two candidates appear no closer to sharing a debate stage, both campaigns said they will continue to take their message directly to voters in the weekend leading up to the election.