Republican gubernatorial candidate Byron Donalds was joined by a lifelong Democrat Wednesday night at his town hall at the University of Florida.
Gainesville City Commissioner Cynthia Chestnut, a Democrat who backed David Jolly in the Governor’s race until shortly after Gwen Graham was picked as his running mate, spoke ahead of the Congressman from Naples.
Chestnut objected to the “all-White ticket” presented by the Democrats.
Speaking ahead of Donalds, Chestnut lauded him for choosing to “listen with care and respect” and give “access” to the Governor’s Office that Gainesville hasn’t had in “many, many years.”
Donalds addressed the cross-party endorsement in his opening remarks.
“You endorsed me,” he said. “And I appreciate it more than you can possibly know.”
“I am well aware of your decision to endorse me in this race for Governor, and I am equally aware of what others have said to try to assassinate your character. When we first met, I remember asking you, ‘Are you sure about this?’ I asked that question because today’s politics have reached a point where we feel it is necessary to destroy one another simply because we are on opposite sides of the political aisle. Even though we will have our disagreements, we still have a fundamental responsibility to respect each other,” he said.
Beyond the historically unlikely appearance of Chestnut at a Republican campaign event, Donalds tackled questions from attendees.
A couple covered race-related issues, including an unambiguous defense of Florida’s “African American studies course.”
“If you read that syllabus, it is deeply steeped in Black history — covering everything from the slave trade through the civil rights era and up to the present day. That history is fully present in Florida’s curriculum right now,” Donalds said.
Back in 2023, when Gov. Ron DeSantis was running for President, Donalds clashed with DeSantis over “one sentence” in the 216-page set of guidelines: instruction to middle school students on “how slaves developed skills which, in some instances, could be applied for their personal benefit.”
At the time, DeSantis allies claimed Donalds aligned with former Vice President Kamala Harris’ criticisms of Florida’s Black history standards, which was a newsy topic when they were instituted. Donalds called it a “dumb story.” But it was fodder for the presidential Primary campaign DeSantis was involved in at the time.
Beyond healing a rift with the current Governor, Donalds took aim at his main opponent, addressing Democrat David Jolly’s claim that he had an “anti-Black agenda.”
“The reason my opponent claims I have an anti-Black agenda is because, to be frank, he is losing Black support in Florida to me,” Donalds said. “Furthermore, he says it because he doesn’t have the guts to stand on a stage like this, take your unprompted questions, and do it live online. He knows that if he makes even one mistake, his campaign is over.”
