Donalds picks state senator as running mate for Florida governor

Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.) announced Tuesday that Florida state Sen. Bryan Avila (R) will be his running mate in the Sunshine State’s gubernatorial race. Donalds, who won the GOP primary last week, praised Avila as a “proven warrior” and “conservative fighter.” Avila, the former speaker pro tempore of the Florida House, has represented the state’s 39th Senate District since November 2022. “He has fought woke ideology, he’s fought higher taxes, he’s fought higher costs every single day, and I could not be more prouder to have him stand by my side,” Donalds said at an event at the Freedom Tower in downtown Miami. Avila, the son of Cuban immigrants, resides in the heavily Cuban-influenced city of Hialeah, located in north Miami-Dade County. Miami-Dade is the largest county in Florida, and 29.2 percent of Floridians are Hispanic or Latino, according to 2025 estimates by the U.S. Census Bureau. The Florida state lawmaker, a captain in the Florida Army National Guard, said it was an “incredible honor” to be the running mate of Donalds. “Byron, thank you for your trust, thank you for your friendship and thank you for your leadership,” Avila said, with Donalds standing behind him. The Donalds-Avila pairing will face off against former GOP Rep. David Jolly (Fla.), a converted Democrat who won the party’s gubernatorial nomination last week. Jolly’s running mate is former Rep. Gwen Graham (D-Fla.), an assistant Education secretary during the Biden administration and the daughter of for…