Fresh off his historic win, Florida Gov.-elect Byron Donalds went on national television Sunday morning with a straightforward message for his own party: forget the finger-pointing and focus on what families pay at the pump and the checkout line.
Appearing on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” Donalds was asked about the Republican losses in Tuesday’s midterm elections, in which Democrats took control of both the House and the Senate. His answer was short and to the point.
“At the end of it all, it’s about gas and groceries,” Donalds said.
A “little bit broader” than Iran
Donalds was asked whether he agreed with Vice President JD Vance, who wrote on X the day after the election that “the reason we lost is the war” with Iran. Donalds said the picture was “a little bit broader than that.”
“It could be Iran,” he said. “I mean, we’ll take time to dissect all of that. But at the end of the day, people want to know that they can afford their lives, and I think that the mission for Republicans is to get back focused on just on the cost of living for the people of this country.”
Recounting conversations he had across Florida, Donalds said voters were thinking about the cost of food, gas and insurance. “They just want to have lower prices,” he said.
When asked whether Vance could realistically distance himself from President Trump on the Iran war, Donalds didn’t take the bait, saying it was “a question for the vice president.”
A historic first for Florida
Donalds is the first Black governor elected in Florida’s history, and he called the win “a high honor.”
“It demonstrates again in our country that despite all the vitriol around race in America and in politics, that people just want to have leadership that’s going to get the job done,” he said.
Florida stayed red on Tuesday even as Republicans lost ground across the country. Donalds defeated Democrat David Jolly in the governor’s race.
Backing Trump’s pick of Stephen Miller
Donalds also backed President Trump’s decision to make Stephen Miller his new White House chief of staff, replacing Susie Wiles. According to coverage of the interview, Donalds said Miller is there to carry out the agenda voters elected Trump to pursue.
Back home, Donalds said he plans to tackle costs at the state level, starting with Florida’s high property insurance rates and slow home construction, which he wants to speed up through permitting reform.
And as for the 2028 race already being talked about? Donalds wasn’t biting. “We’re still in 2026, we haven’t even crossed the new year,” he said. “We have a government to prepare for. That’s my focus.”