JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — David Jolly is running for Florida governor as a Democrat, but his political career did not start with the Democratic Party.
Jolly previously served in Congress as a Republican. He later left the Republican Party and spent several years as an independent before becoming a Democrat.
During an interview with WOKV, Jolly talked about why he wants to be governor and what he would change in Florida. Some of the main issues he discussed were homeowners insurance, housing, health care, education, veterans, immigration and data centers.
Jolly said he believes the election is about more than political parties. He said many people are struggling with the cost of living and feel divided by politics.
Homeowners insurance
One of the biggest issues Jolly talked about was homeowners insurance.
He wants Florida to expand its hurricane fund and use more of that money to help homeowners instead of insurance companies.
Jolly said the fund would eventually need more than $30 billion for the state to fully cover hurricane damage. He said Florida could start with partial coverage before reaching that amount.
Jolly said money for the fund could come from different places, including taxes on insurance company profits. He also said voters could consider a small tax on real estate sales and changes to how some tourism tax money is spent.
He believes his plan could eventually lower homeowners insurance costs by 60% to 70%.
Veterans and health care
Jolly also talked about veterans, especially because Northeast Florida has a large veteran community.
He said Florida already does some things well for veterans and he would keep programs that are working.
However, Jolly said the state could do more when veterans have to wait a long time for federal services. He gave the example of veterans waiting several months to see a mental health counselor.
Jolly said Florida could look at ways to help veterans get those services while they wait for federal help.
For health care in general, Jolly said he wants to give more people access to primary care, especially in rural parts of Florida.
Immigration
Jolly also shared his views on immigration.
He said every child should have access to education and health care and should be able to stay with their parents.
Jolly said immigrants who are in the country without legal status but have not committed crimes should have a way to get legal status and permission to work.
He also said he would change state rules that require local governments to work with ICE. Jolly believes local communities should have more control over how they work with federal immigration officers.
Development and data centers
Jolly also talked about Florida’s continued growth.
He said the state needs to think about things like roads, water, transportation and natural resources when approving new development.
Jolly is also against new data centers in Florida. He said he wants to stop new data center projects when he takes office while the state looks at their impact.
He also confirmed during the interview that he has turned down money from data center lobbyists and said he would continue doing so.
Jolly is running against Republican Byron Donalds for governor. He criticized Donalds several times during the interview, including over homeowners insurance and campaign ads.
WOKV said Donalds has also been invited to appear for an interview but had not accepted the invitation at the time of Jolly’s interview.
Jolly said his goal as governor would be to focus less on political labels and more on fixing problems that affect people across Florida.
“I don’t care about party to solve those problems,” Jolly said. “Let’s just get it done.”
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