Byron Donalds | |
|---|---|
 Official portrait, 2021 | |
| Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromFlorida's19th district | |
| Assumed office January 3, 2021 | |
| Preceded by | Francis Rooney |
| Member of theFlorida House of Representatives from the80th district | |
| In office November 8, 2016 – November 3, 2020 | |
| Preceded by | Matt Hudson |
| Succeeded by | Lauren Melo |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Byron Lowell Donalds (1978-10-28)October 28, 1978 (age 47) New York City,New York, U.S. |
| Political party | Republican (2010–present) |
| Other political affiliations | Democratic (before 2010) |
| Spouses | |
| Children | 3 |
| Education | Florida A&M University Florida State University (BS) |
| Website | House website Campaign website |
Donalds opposing the Restaurant Revitalization Fund Replenishment Act of 2021. Recorded April 7, 2022 | |
Byron Lowell Donalds (born October 28, 1978)[1] is an American politician and financial analyst serving as theU.S. representative forFlorida's 19th congressional district since 2021. A member of theRepublican Party, he served in theFlorida House of Representatives from 2016 to 2020. His congressional district includes much ofSouthwest Florida.[2][3]
Born and raised inCrown Heights, Brooklyn, Donalds attendedFlorida A&M University and earned a Bachelor of Science degree in finance and marketing fromFlorida State University in 2002. Before entering politics, Donalds worked in the finance, insurance, and banking industries.[1] Situated in theconservative orMAGA wing of the Republican Party,[4][5][6][7] Donalds was a member of theTea Party movement and unsuccessfully ran for theU.S. House of Representatives in 2012. He represented the 80th district in the Florida House of Representatives from 2016 to 2020.[8][9][10]
Donalds was elected to Congress in2020, defeatingDemocratic nominee Cindy Banyai. In theJanuary 2023 Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives election, Donalds was nominated for the speakership in the fourth through 11th rounds of voting.[11] Several months later, he was again a candidate for theOctober 2023 Speaker of the United States House of Representatives election.[12] In February of 2024,Donald Trump said that Donalds was among those he was considering as arunning mate, and media outlets subsequently listed him as apotential vice-presidential nominee.[13][14]
In February 2025, Donalds announced his candidacy forgovernor of Florida in2026. Days earlier,President Trump had posted onTruth Social that Donalds would have his “Complete and Total Endorsement,” and Donalds entered the race with Trump’s backing.[15][16]
Donalds was born and raised in theCrown Heights neighborhood in the New York Cityborough ofBrooklyn.[17][18] One of three children, he was raised by his single mother.[17] In 1996, Donalds graduated fromNazareth Regional High School inEast Flatbush.[19] Donalds is of Jamaican and Panamanian heritage.[20][21]
In 1997, Donalds was charged withmarijuana possession, but the charges were dropped as part of apre-trial diversion program, and he was fined $150 (equivalent to $290 in 2024).[22][23] In 2000, he pleadedno contest to a felony theft charge for allegedly attempting to defraud a bank (by depositing a bad check), but his record was later sealed andexpunged.[22][23][24][25] According to an attorney consulted by thefact-checking sitePolitiFact, "Donalds would not have been able to get his record expunged if the state considered him a convicted felon."[26]
Donalds attendedFlorida A&M University, subsequently transferring toFlorida State University. In 2002, he graduated from FSU with a Bachelor of Science degree in finance and marketing.[17][27]
.jpg)
Donalds began his professional career in 2003 as acredit analyst at TIB Bank. He was promoted to senior credit analyst in 2004, and later promoted tocommercial credit manager, assistant vice president, and credit manager. Donalds left TIB Bank in 2007 and took a position as aportfolio manager at CMG Surety LLC. In 2015, he joinedWells Fargo Advisors as aFinancial Advisor.[28]
In 2010, Donalds left theDemocratic Party and joined theRepublican Party.[29] After becoming involved in theTea Party movement, he was encouraged to run for office.[17]
In 2012, Donalds was a candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives inFlorida's 19th congressional district. He finished fifth of six candidates.[30] In 2014, he was reported as a likely candidate for the U.S. House inFlorida's 19th congressional district afterTrey Radel resigned, but did not run.[30]
Donalds was elected to theFlorida House of Representatives forDistrict 80 in2016. During his Florida House tenure, he chaired the Insurance and Banking Subcommittee.[31]
Donalds was the Republican nominee forFlorida's 19th congressional district in the2020 election, running to succeed retiring incumbentFrancis Rooney. He won a crowded nine-way Republican primary by 770 votes over state representativeDane Eagle, finishing just over the threshold to avoid a recount.[32][33] Republicans have a 550,000-voter advantage over Democrats in registration, andFlorida Gulf Coast University professor Peter Bergerson noted that the Republican primary is almost always the real contest for most races in the area.[32][34] In August 2020, anonymous text messages were sent out to constituents in the 19th district claiming that Donalds was dropping out of the race. Donalds later clarified via tweet that he was not dropping out and called the messages "illegal".[35][36]
During his campaign, Donalds described himself as a "Trump supporting, gun owning, liberty loving, pro-life, politically incorrect Black man."[37] He stated his support for economic freedom, clean water, nuclear power and decreased government involvement in health care. He opposed theGreen New Deal.[17]
In the November general election, Donalds defeated Democratic nominee Cindy Banyai. Donalds said he would focus on policy related to water quality inSouthwest Florida.[38] Upon his swearing-in on January 3, 2021, Donalds became the sixth person to represent this district since its creation in 1983 (it had been the 13th District from 1983 to 1993, the 14th from 1993 to 2013, and has been the 19th since 2013).
In late 2020, Donalds was identified as a participant in the "Freedom Force", a group of incoming House Republicans who "say they’re fighting againstsocialism in America".[39][40][41] The following year Donalds was blocked from joining theCongressional Black Caucus.[42][43]
In January 2021, Donaldsvoted to object to the certification of electors from Arizona and Pennsylvania in the2020 presidential election.[44] Donalds has since claimed thatJoe Biden was not the legitimate president of the United States, a claim he repeated in aVanity Fair interview in July 2023.[45]
On January 3, 2023, Donalds received one vote in the118th Congress's firstelection for Speaker of the House, fromChip Roy.[46] Donalds voted forKevin McCarthy on the first two ballots, then forJim Jordan on the third.[47] On January 4, on the fourth ballot, Roy nominated Donalds for Speaker, and he received 20 votes.[46] This marked the first time two Black lawmakers were nominated for Speaker, the other being Democratic nomineeHakeem Jeffries.[48] He was nominated byLauren Boebert on the fifth ballot, and again received 20 votes.[49] He was sequentially nominated byScott Perry,[50]Dan Bishop,Andy Biggs,Matt Rosendale, andAnna Paulina Luna on the sixth to tenth ballots. He was not nominated on the 11th ballot, but still received 12 votes. Donalds switched[51] his vote back to McCarthy after House Republican leadership made many concessions to House Freedom Caucus members.
On August 10, 2023, Donalds was one of the main questioners during theUnited States House Subcommittee on Government Operations and the Federal Workforce'stelevised investigative hearing on the federal government's response to and overall recovery efforts fromHurricane Ian in 2022. Questions from Donalds led to Congress discovering various government agencies had "regulatory hurdles, miscommunication, and burdensome administrative requirements", which made recovery efforts difficult and that FEMA did not "tap into the expertise on the local level and pre-certify people from the city".[52][53][54][55]
Donalds was a candidate forSpeaker of the United States House of Representatives in theOctober 2023 election.[56]
In a political outreach event in June 2024, Donalds opined as follows about theJim Crow era:[57][58]
You see, during Jim Crow, the black family was together. During Jim Crow, more black people were not just conservative, black people have always been conservative-minded, but more black people voted conservatively. And then,HEW,Lyndon Johnson, and then you go down that road, and now we are where we are. What's happened in America the last ten years, and I say it because it's my contemporaries…you're starting to see more black people be married in homes raising kids.
After some backlash against those remarks, Donalds denied “that Black people were doing better under Jim Crow” or that “Jim Crow is great”, and also denied having been inaccurate when he said that black marriage rates were relatively high during that era.[59]
For the118th Congress:[60]
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Trey Radel | 22,304 | 30.0 | |
| Republican | Chauncey Porter Goss | 16,005 | 21.5 | |
| Republican | Paige Kreegel | 13,167 | 17.7 | |
| Republican | Gary Aubuchon | 11,498 | 15.5 | |
| Republican | Byron Donalds | 10,389 | 14.0 | |
| Republican | Joe Davidow | 1,028 | 1.4 | |
| Total votes | 74,391 | 100.0 | ||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Byron Donalds | 9,115 | 64.4% | |
| Republican | Joe Davidow | 5,041 | 35.6% | |
| Total votes | 14,156 | 100.0 | ||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Byron Donalds | 51,031 | 100.0% | |
| Independent | Anthony Joseph Cetrangelo (write-in) | 7 | 0.0% | |
| Total votes | 51,038 | 100.0 | ||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Byron Donalds | 37,881 | 62.1% | |
| Democratic | Jennifer Boddicker | 22,207 | 36.4% | |
| Independent | Dustin Alexander Lapolla | 931 | 1.5% | |
| Total votes | 61,019 | 100.0 | ||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Byron Donalds | 23,492 | 22.6% | |
| Republican | Dane Eagle | 22,715 | 21.9% | |
| Republican | Casey Askar | 20,774 | 20.0% | |
| Republican | William Figlesthaler | 19,075 | 18.3% | |
| Republican | Randy Henderson | 7,858 | 7.6% | |
| Republican | Christy McLaughlin | 4,245 | 4.1% | |
| Republican | Dan Severson | 3,197 | 3.1% | |
| Republican | Darren Aquino | 1,466 | 1.4% | |
| Republican | Daniel Kowal | 1,135 | 1.1% | |
| Total votes | 103,957 | 100.0% | ||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Byron Donalds | 272,440 | 61.27% | |
| Democratic | Cindy Banyai | 172,146 | 38.72% | |
| Independent | Patrick Post (write-in) | 3 | 0.01% | |
| Total votes | 444,589 | 100.0 | ||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Byron Donalds | 76,192 | 83.7 | |
| Republican | Jim Huff | 14,795 | 16.3 | |
| Total votes | 90,987 | 100.0 | ||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Byron Donalds | 213,035 | 68.01% | |
| Democratic | Cindy Banyai | 100,226 | 31.99% | |
| Independent | Patrick Post (write-in) | 13 | 0% | |
| Total votes | 313,274 | 100.0% | ||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Byron Donalds (incumbent) | 275,708 | 66.32 | ||
| Democratic | Kari Lerner | 140,038 | 33.68 | ||
| Total votes | 415,746 | 100.00 | |||
| Republicanhold | |||||
Byron Donalds married Bisa Hall on June 15, 1999. They divorced in 2002.[70][71]Donalds marriedErika Lees on March 15, 2003. They have three sons and live inNaples, Florida.[72]
favorites of the party's right wing.
conservative Republican
DeSantis lumped the conservative Black Republican...
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)Donalds ... faced a marijuana possession charge in Leon County in 1997, but he was given pre-trial diversion and he paid a $150 fine, court records show.
He claims he was arrested for possession of pot, not distribution, and the second offense was for theft, not taking a bribe.
When Donalds was 18, after a party at his apartment, he was arrested for possession of marijuana. Two years later, a female acquaintance convinced him he could make a thousand dollars by depositing a bad check.
| U.S. House of Representatives | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromFlorida's 19th congressional district 2021–present | Incumbent |
| U.S. order of precedence (ceremonial) | ||
| Preceded by | United States representatives by seniority 250th | Succeeded by |
| People | |
|---|---|
| Other | |
