Data Center Donalds’ biggest backers are the same corporate interests and ultra-wealthy donors he’s spent his career serving
TALLAHASSEE – Following U.S. Congressman Byron Donalds becoming the Republican nominee for governor of Florida, Florida Watch Executive Director Natasha Sutherland released the following statement:
“Florida voters deserve to know exactly who Byron Donalds is: a politician whose legislative record consistently prioritizes the multinational corporations and billionaires who bankroll his campaigns over the needs of the everyday Floridians he was elected to serve.
“Donalds has shown he has no qualms about selling out our state to his Silicon Valley donors and multinational corporations to fuel his personal political ambitions. He has voted to gut Medicaid and food assistance in order to give tax breaks to billionaires, to side with predatory insurance companies when they raise rates and refuse to pay claims, and to protect the president’s agenda instead of supporting bipartisan plans to lower the cost of housing and deliver federal resources to devastated Floridians following major hurricanes in the state. Make no mistake: Byron Donalds is not running for governor to serve Florida’s working families and seniors; he’s running to advance his own political career built on following the marching orders of President Trump and the greedy corporations, like the rapidly-growing data center industry, that are financing his campaign.
“As a member of the Florida State Legislature and now the United States Congress, Donalds is a key architect of the failed GOP policies that have defined Florida for decades—policies that have left Floridians living paycheck to paycheck and working hard to make ends meet during an unprecedented affordability crisis. Donalds is no different from any other out-of-touch Washington D.C. bureaucrat.
“We need leaders who will stand against anyone seeking to destroy our communities for corporate profit. A governor should answer to the people, not to their party, not to their president, and not to their powerful donors—and Byron Donalds is not that person. Someone who has built a career around the demands of the ultra-wealthy rather than addressing the real issues facing our state does not deserve your vote.”
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Florida Watch is a communications and research organization that serves as the progressive community’s in-state hub for message development, digital communications, and research. Florida Watch keeps an eye on everything that goes on in our state to hold our elected officials accountable when they support laws and policies that make it harder for everyday Floridians to be healthy, prosperous, and safe. You can follow along with Florida Watch on social media on X, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok.