Jolly Lands NYC Spotlight as Funds Hit $2M, Pitches Economic Relief to Treasure Coast

David Jolly, the Democratic candidate for Florida governor, will address the National Action Network Convention in New York City on Thursday — the only Florida gubernatorial candidate invited to speak — as his campaign reports $2 million raised in roughly the first three months of the year.

For Treasure Coast voters watching gas prices climb well above $4 per gallon and grocery bills stretch further each week, Jolly's pitch is deliberately economic. He frames the 2026 governor's race not as a culture war battle but as a response to financial pain spreading across Florida households. "I look at this as an economic crisis, not just an affordability crisis," Jolly said. "People have lost upward mobility."

Rev. Al Sharpton, the organization's founder, will introduce Jolly. The program also includes Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, former Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro and former Vice President Kamala Harris.

His appearance comes weeks after Democrat Emily Gregory defeated Republican Jon Maples in a Florida House District 87 special election by 1.5 percentage points — a district President Donald Trump carried by nine points in 2024. Gregory has since endorsed Jolly. Republicans held a voter-turnout advantage in that race yet still lost. As many as one in five Republican voters crossed party lines, according to public records.

Jolly, a former Republican congressman who represented the St. Petersburg area before becoming an MSNBC political analyst, has raised $5 million overall since entering the race nearly a year ago. His campaign pulled in $1 million in the weeks immediately following Gregory's late-March victory alone.

A recent Palm Beach County poll shows Jolly leading Republican front-runner Byron Donalds by nearly nine percentage points, with 56% of respondents disapproving of President Trump's performance. Statewide surveys are tighter: an Emerson College poll places Jolly five points behind Donalds, and a University of North Florida poll shows a six-point deficit.

Before any general election matchup, Jolly must first win the Democratic primary against Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings, who was not invited to speak at the convention. Demings raised $329,000 in the fourth quarter of 2025 between his campaign account and affiliated political committee — less than a third of Jolly's haul in the same period. Demings has not yet released first-quarter 2026 fundraising figures.

The Florida primary is scheduled for August 2026.

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