Florida Governor 2026

Election day is November 3, 2026. A statewide contest in Florida.

Who is favoured in Florida Governor?

Run the forecaster to pull current reporting on this race, score it issue by issue, and see who it favours.

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What the Florida Governor election decides

State government decides most of what touches daily life directly: schools, roads, policing, public health, utilities regulation, and the state's share of healthcare programs. A governor's veto and budget proposal set the boundaries of what a legislature can do.

A governor signs or vetoes state law, proposes the state budget, commands the state's emergency response, and in most states shapes how elections themselves are administered. Florida decides this alongside its 28 House seats and a U.S. Senate seat. Governors are judged on results inside the state rather than on national mood alone, which is why governor's races often break differently from federal contests held the same day.

How Florida votes

Florida's electorate is enormous and layered: retirees, a diverse Latino population with distinct Cuban and Puerto Rican communities, growth-belt suburbs and a conservative north. Insurance costs, hurricanes and growth management now share the stage with its long-running tax debates. That backdrop is the ground any Florida campaign fights on, and it is what the Electorate HQ simulation reads first when it weighs a ticket's platform against this contest.

About this race

The 2026 Florida gubernatorial election will be held on November 3, 2026, to elect the governor of Florida. Primary elections took place on August 18, 2026. Incumbent governor Ron DeSantis is ineligible to seek re-election to a third consecutive term.

Republicans have won every gubernatorial election in Florida since 1998. If he wins, Byron Donalds would become the first African American governor of Florida, and the first African American governor elected in the Deep South, and the first elected African American Republican governor. This is the second consecutive Florida gubernatorial election in which the Democratic nominee is a former Republican.

Background

Latest coverage of the Florida Governor race

2026 Florida primary election results: Florida governor, Senate, U.S. House and statewide officesWUSF · 18 Aug 2026Florida Governor Candidates 2026 Generalsparkers-soapbox.com · 07 Sep 2026Byron Donalds kept House re-election campaign alive during run for Florida GovernorWLRN · 20 Aug 2026Florida primary election results live: Governor raceFOX 13 Tampa Bay · 18 Aug 2026Florida governor primary resultsSpectrum News 13 · 18 Aug 2026Florida voters choose in governor, Senate primaries and more races to watch todayCBS News · 18 Aug 2026Former Republican David Jolly Wins Democratic Nomination for Florida GovernorThe New York Times · 18 Aug 2026Florida holds primaries for governor and Congress, testing Trump's grip on adopted statePBS · 18 Aug 2026

The rest of the Florida ballot

Every Florida House district, the counties inside each one, and an address lookup that resolves your exact districts are on the Florida state page.

Other 2026 races in Florida

Analysis covering Florida

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