In September 2018, Jolly left the Republican Party. In April 2025, Jolly joined the Democratic Party to run in the Democratic primary for the 2026 Florida gubernatorial election.
Early life and education
Jolly was born in Dunedin, Florida, the son of Judith and Lawson Jolly, a Baptist pastor. He grew up in Dade City, Florida. At age 16, Jolly was involved in an automobile accident that killed a pedestrian; authorities determined that he was not at fault.
Before running for political office, Jolly worked for Republican U.S. Representative Bill Young full time from 1995 to 2006 in various positions, with a brief break for six months in 2001 when he worked at a Washington securities firm. In 2002, Jolly became Young's general counsel and held that position until he left in 2006. He served as the personal attorney for Young's family as well.
In 2007, Jolly joined Washington, D.C. firm Van Scoyoc Associates as a lobbyist. In 2011, he left Van Scoyoc to open his own lobbying firm, Three Bridges Advisors. During his time as a lobbyist he made political donations to both Republicans (about $36,000) and Democrats (about $30,000). Jolly had his name removed from the lobby registry to run for the vacant House seat. At the time, Jolly was working as vice president of the Clearwater-based investment company Boston Finance Group.
After being behind in the early tallies, Jolly won the 2014 election on March 11, with 48.4% of the vote. He was sworn into office on March 13.
Jolly had won the Republican nomination on January 14, 2014, over Mark Bircher and Kathleen Peters, winning a plurality of 45% of the vote. Jolly faced Democratic nominee Alex Sink and a Libertarian candidate, Lucas Overby, in the special election. The race received national attention as possibly forecasting the mid-term elections that were coming in November of that year and became the most expensive Congressional race in history, with approximately $11M spent, $9M of it by outside groups. During the campaign there was friction between the National Republican Congressional Committee and Jolly; the RNC thought Jolly's campaign was inept and Jolly criticized the negative ads run by the RNC. and voters were generally unhappy with the overwhelming number of attack ads on both sides.
Jolly ran for reelection to a full term in November 2014. He was unopposed in the Republican primary and no Democrat ran against him in the general election. His only challenger was Lucas Overby, the Libertarian nominee who came in third in the special election one year prior. Jolly defeated Overby with 75% of the vote.
On July 20, 2015, Jolly announced that he was giving up his seat to run for the United States Senate seat being vacated by Marco Rubio, who was not running for reelection due to his bid for the U.S. presidency. As of August 2015, it appeared that Jolly would face several opponents in the August 30, 2016, Republican primary election, including U.S. Representative Ron DeSantis and Lieutenant Governor of Florida Carlos López-Cantera. However, on June 17, 2016, after Rubio reversed his decision, Jolly withdrew from the Senate race to run for re-election to the House, citing "unfinished business".
In his bid for a second full term, Jolly faced former Florida Governor and St. Petersburg resident Charlie Crist, a former Republican who had turned Democratic after a brief stint as an independent. He found himself in a district that had been made significantly more Democratic after a court threw out Florida's original congressional map. Notably, the new district absorbed a heavily Democratic portion of southern Pinellas County, including almost all of St. Petersburg; some of the more Democratic portions of St. Petersburg had previously been in the Tampa-based 14th District.[citation needed]
Ultimately, Jolly lost to Crist by 51.9% to 48.1%. Jolly's defeat ended a 62-year hold on this St. Petersburg-based district by the GOP. William Cramer had won the seat for the Republicans in 1954, handing it to Young in 1970.
Tenure
According to Politico, Jolly was known for his centrist stances in U.S. Congress, where he served one partial and one full term as a Republican. During his Congressional tenure, Jolly opposed the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, but later he stated on an interview with MSNBC that during unemployment he had a new appreciation for its use as a "safety net". In 2016, Jolly said that he was "pro-life".
Stop Act (2016)
Jolly introduced the bipartisan "Stop Act" in 2016 to prohibit federally elected officials from directly soliciting campaign funds or donations on the belief that post-Citizens United fundraising was taking an excessive amount of their time away from their elected duties.
Campaign Wikipedia edits
In April 2016, Jolly's United States Senate campaign spokesperson Sarah Bascom confirmed that the campaign had made edits to his Wikipedia page to remove information about Jolly that included references to the Church of Scientology and to his lobbying activities, alleging that the posts presented a "public negative narrative" against him, and she accused an unnamed rival campaign of adding "propaganda" to the article. Jolly called the removal "a careless staff mistake" and said that he stands by his record and wants the public to be fully informed.
Since leaving his Congressional office, Jolly has participated regularly as a political commentator on cable news sources such as CNN and MSNBC; in this capacity he has been critical of President Donald Trump. He considered running for lieutenant governor of Florida in 2018 on a bipartisan ticket, with former Democratic congressman Patrick Murphy as the candidate for governor. They conducted a speaking tour around the state. Jolly ultimately decided not to run for any public office in 2018.
In October 2018, Jolly appeared on HBO's Real Time with Bill Maher and said that he and his wife, Laura, had quit the Republican party. In April 2025, Jolly registered as a Democrat.
In July 2018, Jolly became executive vice president and principal of Shumaker Advisors Florida, LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Shumaker, Loop, and Kendrick law firm, at their Tampa office. In making the announcement, the firm said he would be working on ballot initiatives and community issues, including the effort to build a new stadium for the Tampa Bay Rays major league baseball team.
After formally joining the Democratic Party that April, in June 2025 Jolly announced a campaign for governor of Florida for the 2026 election. His running mate is former Democratic congresswoman Gwen Graham from Florida's 2nd congressional district, with whom he served in the House of Representatives, and the runner-up in the Democratic gubernatorial primary in 2018. Jolly refused to debate his Republican opponent Byron Donalds.
Political positions
Abortion
Jolly states that he is pro-choice, having shifted his position on the issue after leaving the Republican Party, and he supports Florida restoring reproductive freedom and codification of the Roe v. Wade and Casey v. Planned Parenthood framework. He said that having grown up in an evangelical household as the son of a preacher, he had previously conflated being religious with opposing Roe. He affirmed his belief and change in perspective that abortion rights should be protected by law, adding that, if elected governor, he would introduce legislation to codify abortion rights. By July 2025, he was endorsed by the leaders of Florida's pro-choice movement, including Gwen Graham, who wrote that they trusted him and his change in perspective.
AI data centers
Jolly is opposed to AI data centers in Florida. In his 2026 campaign, he said, "I have pledged to issue a one-year moratorium on hyperscale data centers on my first day in office." He said data centers may cause local issues, such as for energy and water resources, noise pollution, and quality of life. He said he would commission studies into the topic, and that it "could lead to a full ban. The bottom line is I don't think we need data centers in the state of Florida." Jolly said, "They are rushing to build these things for reasons of profit for the industry, but not out of public interest."
Education
Jolly proposed a 10-year public education plan for Florida if elected governor, including increasing teacher pay by 30% to bring salaries closer to the national average. He said he would fund reinvestment into education with revenue from existing state taxes on tourists visiting Florida. He said, "I just don't think we have a crisis in convention centers. I think we have a crisis in public education, and so I do think we should have a statewide conversation about how we use tourist development tax dollars."
Jolly stated that he would direct Florida's state university system to prioritize the admittance of qualified in-state students. He said "we have got to lean into opening more slots for Florida students." He has called for reforms to the universal school voucher program. About the ability of state voucher-funded private schools to eject students who underperform academically, Jolly said, "You should not be allowed to just kick the kid out and say thank you for the $8,500."
Jolly stated that he would not participate in culture wars, arguing that "to bring politicians into the classrooms and the bedrooms and the doctor's offices, where the results are often communities who have already been marginalized, and are now further marginalized, I just think that's the wrong direction."
Environment
In 2015, Jolly pushed to extend the ban on oil drilling in the gulf off Florida. In January 2015, Jolly announced plans to introduce a bill that would extend the reforms of the federal flood insurance program. Jolly encouraged the U.S. House to extend the Treasure Island beach renourishment project.
Firearms
Jolly initially supported a broad interpretation of the Second Amendment but has since advocated for stricter firearm regulations. He has expressed support for measures such as licensing, registration, and insurance requirements for gun ownership. He has cited the 2016 Pulse nightclub shooting as a turning point, noting his participation as the only Republican joining Democrats on the House floor to call for legislative action. Jolly now supports comprehensive background checks, including for private and intra-family transfers, as well as an assault weapons ban. He has stated that he views unlimited and largely unrestricted access to firearms as a primary contributor to gun violence. He said that Republicans are lying when they say that gun owners, not a lack of gun control, are the problem in cases of gun violence and mass shootings.Speaking about firearms policy, Jolly said: "I do believe the Second Amendment is a fundamental right, but I don't believe it's beyond the reach of regulation, and I believe it's appropriate to look at regulations that ultimately keep the guns out of the hands of criminals."
Jolly said he wants the votes of gun owners because he respects their rights and believes that they are not the problem, but rather that Florida's lack of gun violence prevention laws are. He argues that no law-abiding gun-owning voters will be hurt by his proposals which will "protect their children".
Foreign policy and border security
Jolly supported sending special operations forces overseas, securing the border,[which?] increasing the vetting process for legal immigrants, and increasing surveillance of suspected domestic terrorists. In February 2014, Jolly introduced the "Naval Station Guantanamo Bay Protection Act" bill.
LGBTQ+ rights
In July 2014, Jolly declared support for legalizing same-sex marriage. Although he does not personally support same sex-marriage due to his Christian faith, he explained that "the sanctity of one’s marriage should be defined by their faith and by their church, not by their state", and that this position was consistent with his support of limited government and the protection of personal liberties.
Jolly is opposed to transgender women in women's sports and states that he will not change the Fairness in Women's Sports Act, but that he "[hopes] to restore decency in how we approach it." When asked about his support of gender-affirming care for minors, Jolly states that he supported parents' rights to make medical decisions for their children without government interference, and that "I simply subscribe to the old-school Republican position that government should stay out of your life, out of your doctor's office, and out of your bedroom".
In August 2026, following an attack ad by his Republican opponent Byron Donalds centered on his implied support of transgender rights (stemming from a quote taken out of context from his appearance on a LGBTQ+ podcast), Jolly stated that "local communities should be able to celebrate their own and that government should stay out of your medical decisions."
Party affiliation
In 2025, Jolly changed his party affiliation to Democratic. In response to autopsies of the 2024 U.S. presidential election, he said, "Leading Democrats today who come out and say, 'oh, we've got to change who we are, we have to change our values,' they're wrong. They're wrong. The Democratic Party's values are absolutely right and don't need to be changed."
Jolly states that, unlike Charlie Crist, who has commented, "I didn't leave the party. The [Republican] party left me," his experience differs as Jolly himself left the Republican Party after changing his views. He argues that this is a strength, not a weakness, as opposed to what his critics say, because America "needs more politicians willing to admit they were wrong" and evolve to meet the moment where voters currently are. He further contends that many voters have also changed their beliefs in the past few years.
In July 2015, Jolly introduced the "Veterans Health Care Freedom Act" bill.
Personal life
Jolly and his first wife, Carrie, divorced on January 16, 2014. The divorce stemmed from a rumored affair with his then work subordinate Laura Donahoe.
Jolly married Laura Donahoe on July 3, 2015. They have two children.
Electoral history
2014
Florida's 13th Congressional District special election Republican primary results, 2014
↑Isenstadt, Alex (March 7, 2014). "National GOP turns on Florida candidate". Politico.com. Archived from the original on March 9, 2014. Retrieved March 10, 2014. Over the past week, a half-dozen Washington Republicans have described Jolly's campaign against Democrat Alex Sink as a Keystone Cops operation, marked by inept fundraising, top advisers stationed hundreds of miles away from the district in the state capital and the poor optics of a just-divorced, 41-year-old candidate accompanied on the campaign trail by a girlfriend 14 years his junior. The sources would speak only on condition of anonymity.
12"David Jolly registers as a Democrat, making moves toward Florida governor bid". Politico. April 24, 2025. Retrieved April 24, 2025. Jolly served only one full term in Congress, where he became known for his centrist stances, but is a well-known figure in Florida and nationally because he's been an MSNBC political contributor for years.
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