TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — A former Republican congressman and vocal critic of Donald Trump says he wants to become governor in the president’s adopted home state of Florida and is running as a Democrat.
David Jolly formally announced his bid Thursday, becoming the latest party convert hoping to wrest back control of what had been the country’s premier swing state that in recent years has made a hard shift to the right. Under state law, term-limited Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis can’t run for reelection in 2026.
Even as Florida serves as a place for the Trump administration to poach staff and test policies, Jolly says he’s confident that issues such as affordability, funding public schools, and strengthening campaign finance and ethics laws will resonate with all voters in 2026. He predicts elections next year will herald nationwide change.
“I actually think Republicans in Tallahassee have gone too far in dividing us. I think we should get politicians out of the classrooms, out of the doctor’s offices,” Jolly said.
“I think enough people in Florida, even some Republicans, now understand that. That the culture wars have gone too far,” he added.
Jolly was first elected to his Tampa Bay-area congressional seat during a 2014 special election and was reelected for one full term. The attorney and former lobbyist underwent a political evolution that spurred him to leave the Republican Party in 2018 to become an independent and then a registered Democrat. He built a national profile as an anti-Trump political commentator on MSNBC. The relationship with the network ended in April when he formed a political action committee, Jolly said Thursday in a text message.
Jolly said he has considered himself “part of the Democratic coalition” for five or so years, and believes in what he sees as the party’s “fundamental values” — that government can help people, that the economy should be “fair” to all, and that immigrants should be celebrated.
“I struggled to exercise those values in the Republican Party,” Jolly said, continuing: “The actual registration as a Democrat wasn’t a pivot. It was a kind of a formality.”
Jolly has broken from his old party on immigration, as Florida lawmakers race to help Trump fulfill his promise of mass deportations. Jolly skewered Republicans, whom he said have “conflated immigration and crime,” which he described as wrong and immoral.
“If you were born here or if you immigrated here, or if you’re a Tallahassee politician who steals Medicaid money, we’re going to be tough on crime,” Jolly added, referring to a probe into the use of Medicaid settlement funds by a charity associated with first lady Casey DeSantis.
Jolly’s gubernatorial run as a Democrat draws comparisons to the failed bid of former Republican congressman-turned-independent-turned-Democrat Charlie Crist, who lost to Gov. DeSantis in 2022 by 19 points. Crist, running as a Democrat, ousted Jolly from his congressional seat in 2016.
“By switching from Republican to Independent to Democrat, Jolly has officially completed his transition to become the next Charlie Crist,” the campaign of Trump-backed Republican U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds, who is running for governor, said in a statement.
Jolly joined the Florida Democratic Party at arguably one of its most vulnerable points in years. No There are no Democrats in statewide office and Republican voters outnumber Democrats by 1.2 million, according to the state’s active voter rolls. The GOP has made significant inroads in formerly Democratic strongholds in the state, such as Miami-Dade County.
The day Jolly announced his new affiliation, the then-top Democrat in the Florida Senate, Jason Pizzo, revealed he was leaving the party, declaring that “the Democratic Party in Florida is dead.” Pizzo, a former prosecutor, has said he’ll launch his own run for governor as a candidate with no party affiliation.
On the Republican side, Jolly will face Donalds, who is also a frequent presence on cable news as a surrogate for the president. Among the other names floated as potential GOP candidates are former Rep. Matt Gaetz and Casey DeSantis.
FILE - In this Oct. 20, 2015 photo, then-U.S. Rep. David Jolly speaks to media after showing up at a news conference for former Florida Gov. Charlie Crist in St. Petersburg, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara, file)
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — U.S. President Donald Trump said Iran wants to negotiate with Washington after his threat to strike the Islamic Republic over its bloody crackdown on protesters, a move coming as activists said Monday the death toll in the nationwide demonstrations rose to at least 544.
Iran had no immediate reaction to the news, which came after the foreign minister of Oman — long an interlocutor between Washington and Tehran — traveled to Iran this weekend. It also remains unclear just what Iran could promise, particularly as Trump has set strict demands over its nuclear program and its ballistic missile arsenal, which Tehran insists is crucial for its national defense.
Meanwhile Monday, Iran called for pro-government demonstrators to head to the streets in support of the theocracy, a show of force after days of protests directly challenging the rule of 86-year-old Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Iranian state television aired chants from the crowd, who shouted “Death to America!” and “Death to Israel!”
Trump and his national security team have been weighing a range of potential responses against Iran including cyberattacks and direct strikes by the U.S. or Israel, according to two people familiar with internal White House discussions who were not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.
“The military is looking at it, and we’re looking at some very strong options,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One on Sunday night. Asked about Iran’s threats of retaliation, he said: “If they do that, we will hit them at levels that they’ve never been hit before.”
Trump said that his administration was in talks to set up a meeting with Tehran, but cautioned that he may have to act first as reports of the death toll in Iran mount and the government continues to arrest protesters.
“I think they’re tired of being beat up by the United States,” Trump said. “Iran wants to negotiate.”
He added: “The meeting is being set up, but we may have to act because of what’s happening before the meeting. But a meeting is being set up. Iran called, they want to negotiate.”
Iran through country's parliamentary speaker warned Sunday that the U.S. military and Israel would be “legitimate targets” if America uses force to protect demonstrators.
More than 10,600 people also have been detained over the two weeks of protests, said the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency, which has been accurate in previous unrest in recent years and gave the death toll. It relies on supporters in Iran crosschecking information. It said 496 of the dead were protesters and 48 were with security forces.
With the internet down in Iran and phone lines cut off, gauging the demonstrations from abroad has grown more difficult. The Associated Press has been unable to independently assess the toll. Iran’s government has not offered overall casualty figures.
Those abroad fear the information blackout is emboldening hard-liners within Iran’s security services to launch a bloody crackdown. Protesters flooded the streets in the country’s capital and its second-largest city on Saturday night into Sunday morning. Online videos purported to show more demonstrations Sunday night into Monday, with a Tehran official acknowledging them in state media.
In Tehran, a witness told the AP that the streets of the capital empty at the sunset call to prayers each night. By the Isha, or nighttime prayer, the streets are deserted.
Part of that stems from the fear of getting caught in the crackdown. Police sent the public a text message that warned: “Given the presence of terrorist groups and armed individuals in some gatherings last night and their plans to cause death, and the firm decision to not tolerate any appeasement and to deal decisively with the rioters, families are strongly advised to take care of their youth and teenagers.”
Another text, which claimed to come from the intelligence arm of the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, also directly warned people not to take part in demonstrations.
“Dear parents, in view of the enemy’s plan to increase the level of naked violence and the decision to kill people, ... refrain from being on the streets and gathering in places involved in violence, and inform your children about the consequences of cooperating with terrorist mercenaries, which is an example of treason against the country,” the text warned.
The witness spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity due to the ongoing crackdown.
The demonstrations began Dec. 28 over the collapse of the Iranian rial currency, which trades at over 1.4 million to $1, as the country’s economy is squeezed by international sanctions in part levied over its nuclear program. The protests intensified and grew into calls directly challenging Iran’s theocracy.
Nikhinson reported from aboard Air Force One.
In this frame grab from video obtained by the AP outside Iran, a masked demonstrator holds a picture of Iran's Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi during a protest in Tehran, Iran, Friday, January. 9, 2026. (UGC via AP)
In this frame grab from footage circulating on social media from Iran shows protesters taking to the streets despite an intensifying crackdown as the Islamic Republic remains cut off from the rest of the world in Tehran, Iran, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026.(UGC via AP)
In this frame grab from footage circulating on social media from Iran showed protesters once again taking to the streets of Tehran despite an intensifying crackdown as the Islamic Republic remains cut off from the rest of the world in Tehran, Iran, Saturday Jan. 10, 2026. (UGC via AP)
