Byron Donalds skipped Florida's first major Republican gubernatorial debate Thursday night, but the Trump-backed frontrunner still dominated the two-hour event. The three candidates who did show up, former House Speaker Paul Renner, Lt. Gov. Jeanette Nuñez, and businessman James Fishback, mentioned Donalds by name at least 60 times as each tried to position himself as the strongest alternative to the congressman.
Moderator Patrick Bet-David called Donalds "the elephant not in the room" and said he had urged the congressman to attend. Bet-David said Donalds told him he has raised roughly $100 million, is polling between 48 percent and 58 percent, and would only consider debating once another candidate hits double digits. "Till then, I'm not showing up," Bet-David said, summarizing Donalds' response. Collins criticized Donalds for refusing to debate, saying "We don't do kings in the United States of America. We sure don't do them in Florida." He added that if Donalds wants the governor's mansion, "you've got to grow a spine, you've got to stand up, and you've got to fight for the people of Florida." Renner called Donalds' absence disrespectful and said "Every voter in this audience, everyone watching, everyone in the state deserves a debate." Fishback contrasted Donalds' fundraising with his own ground game, noting his campaign was the first in Florida running for governor to visit all 67 counties.
The debate centered on affordability, property taxes, insurance, and hyperscale data centers. Fishback went furthest on taxes, saying "I don't support relieving your property taxes. I don't support reforming your property taxes. I support one thing, and one thing only, and that is completely and totally abolishing property taxes in the state of Florida." He promised to take a "chainsaw" to local government spending. Renner pitched his "Florida First" plan to eliminate most homestead property taxes while shifting more burden to tourists, out-of-state investors, and large corporations. The sharpest clash came over data centers, with Fishback promising to "reject and remove every experimental data center" in Florida and Renner saying he would call a special session to stop hyperscale projects.
The debate gave Renner, Collins, and Fishback clips and contrasts to pressure Donalds over skipping the stage. But with Donalds still holding the polling, fundraising, and endorsement advantages, one debate without him is unlikely to reset the race on its own. The anti-Donalds lane remains split among three candidates, each trying to prove which one deserves a one-on-one fight with the frontrunner.