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Yahoo
30-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Editorial: Reconsider, Sen. Pizzo — Independent candidates can't win
In the current state of Florida politics, the only thing rarer than a Democrat being elected governor, which hasn't happened in three decades, would be for someone to win as an independent — which has never happened. That is what Sen. Jason Pizzo wants to do. He should reconsider. The ex-Democrat from Sunny Isles Beach still has more in common with his old party than the GOP, and his third-party run would assure a Republican successor to Gov. Ron DeSantis, because a Democrat will also run, so the anti-Republican vote would be split in two. Independent candidates have a steep uphill climb in states as large as Florida. They do better in New England (think Bernie Sanders) and the Midwest (remember Jesse Ventura?) with their progressive traditions. Sidney Catts was elected Florida governor on the Prohibition Party ticket in 1916. It's the only time a candidate won statewide who was neither a Democrat nor a Republican. As a Baptist preacher and an anti-Catholic demagogue, Catts played well to a certain constituency at the time. The state's population was 924,000, less than half of the population of today's Broward. NPA candidates (no party affiliation) have run many times in Florida but barely register most of the time. Former Gov. Charlie Crist ran as an NPA candidate for U.S. Senate in 2010. He withdrew from a Republican primary he realized he couldn't win as a moderate in a time of Tea Party strength. Republican Marco Rubio won that Senate race as Crist ran second and Democrat Kendrick Meek third. But together, Crist and Meek got 54,742 more votes than Rubio. That a well-known sitting governor could not win as an NPA should give pause to Pizzo, who has virtually no statewide recognition. He does have more personal wealth — $59 million, according to his latest financial disclosure. Pizzo said he would invest up to $25 million on his race. But in today's outrageously expensive campaigns, that won't go far against the likely fundraising prowess of any Republican running with Donald Trump's favor, such as U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds of Naples. Nor would it likely match John Morgan, the billionaire Orlando trial lawyer who hints that he might run under the banner of a new party he may create. By running as an NPA, Pizzo hopes to appeal to a vast electorate alienated by both major parties. Pizzo's switch nearly coincided with an announcement by David Jolly, a former one-term Republican congressman from St. Petersburg, that he had become a Democrat and plans to run for governor, having created a political fundraising committee. As an MSNBC commentator, Jolly already has name recognition among Democrats and a reputation as a moderate that could appeal to the same constituency that Pizzo or Morgan would need. Florida is better served, we think, without an NPA or new party candidate splintering the opposition, which helps Republicans. The early options on the GOP side are bleak: Neither Donalds nor Casey DeSantis, the governor's wife who's said to be interested in succeeding him, is the moderate Florida so desperately needs now. In a red-and-blue America, people are accustomed to political parties, as much as many deplore them. The GOP now claims 40% of all registered Florida voters, compared to 31% Democrats and 26% NPAs. Minor parties, including Libertarians, account for only 3%, which ought to warn off Morgan. The surge in NPAs owes much to dissatisfaction with both major parties, according to findings last year by the public relations firm Sachs Media. The poll by the firm said NPAs have been decisive in close elections such as the historically close wins by less than 1 percentage point by both DeSantis and Sen. Rick Scott in 2018. The poll also found that while a slight majority of younger NPAs (52%) consider themselves liberal, voters older than 45 — the majority — identify as conservative, ranging from 59% to 62%. The poll found that NPAs favor legal abortion, legal marijuana and higher taxes on the wealthy, but there aren't nearly enough of them to get Pizzo to the Governor's Mansion. In addition, Florida is a closed primary state, which means NPA voters are prohibited from casting ballots in either party's primaries. The people of Florida deserve open primaries, at least to the extent of allowing NPAs to vote. Indeed, a majority of voters — 57% — favored an open primary initiative on the 2020 ballot, but that fell short of the 60% needed for approval. With Pizzo and Morgan in the race, falling short is what will happen to Florida Democrats once again in 2026. The Orlando Sentinel Editorial Board includes Executive Editor Roger Simmons, Opinion Editor Krys Fluker and Viewpoints Editor Jay Reddick. The Sun Sentinel Editorial Board consists of Executive Editor Gretchen Day-Bryant, Editorial Page Editor Steve Bousquet, Deputy Editorial Page Editor Dan Sweeney and editorial writers Pat Beall and Martin Dyckman. Send letters to insight@
Yahoo
17-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Florida's 2026 governor race: Would third-party candidates lock in another Republican victory?
Two wealthy political figures think they've identified the formula to end a three-decade streak of Republican victories in elections for governor, and give Florida something different. The ex-Democrats — Jason Pizzo, a South Florida state senator, and John Morgan, the prominent Central Florida personal injury lawyer — are advocating a new approach: a candidate who isn't tied to Democratic dogma or Republican orthodoxy who can harness the growing number of independent voters and win the governor's office in 2026 by running as a no-party independent or as the leader of a new third party. Each believes he is the best person to lead that effort and win the election. Many Democrats are concerned that a Morgan or Pizzo candidacy would imperil whatever small chance their party might otherwise have in next year's governor's race. Republicans privately welcome the prospect of extra candidates who could siphon votes away from the eventual Democratic nominee. Several independent analysts say Democratic worries and Republican glee is justified. Pizzo, who represents eastern Broward and northeast Miami-Dade County, says he'll run as a no-party affiliation candidate for governor. He declared his intentions in an interview that aired May 11 on WFOR-Ch. 4, less than three weeks after he dramatically declared in a speech on the floor of the Florida Senate that the Democratic Party was 'dead,' resigned as the Senate Democratic leader, and changed his voter registration to no party affiliation. Morgan, speaking Wednesday to the Capital Tiger Bay Club in Tallahassee, touted the idea of a third-party candidacy. Morgan, who left the Democratic Party in 2017, has been floating himself as a possible third-party candidate for months. He said he'd soon launch a contest to name the party, and promised the winner would receive a cash prize. Florida always has third party or no party candidates on the ballot for governor, most of whom are ignored, get around 0.3% of the vote, and are promptly forgotten. The theory for an independent or third-party candidacy in 2026 is that with Republicans making up 40.0% of the state's registered voters and Democrats making up 31.1%, there's an enormous group — three in every 10 registered voters — who aren't aligned with either party. It's those voters — supposedly in the middle and looking for solutions to problems and not enamored of the ideology of either side — who, the thinking goes, have the power to determine the outcome of elections. 'NPAs decide who wins elections in this state,' Pizzo said on the WFOR-Ch. 4 'Facing South Florida' program. NPA is the acronym for no party affiliation voters, widely known as independents. Pizzo didn't respond to interview requests. Morgan offered a similar, though slightly different assessment on Wednesday in his speech and later to reporters. Running as an independent isn't good enough, he said, arguing that people want to rally around 'a team for all of us stuck in the middle.' Jason Pizzo says he'll run for Florida governor as an independent Democrats plan to fly 'Qatar-a-Lago' banner at Trump's home to troll him over airliner gift Confidence among Hispanics in U.S. economy dips, FAU national poll finds Florida will ban water fluoridation amid battle between public health, personal freedom David Jolly entices Florida Democrats with dream of winning 2026 governor's race Florida Senate Democrats change course with new leader Lori Berman. 'She doesn't fly off the cuff.' As appealing as the premise may sound to some, a range of political analysts and strategists said it's exceedingly unlikely that a no party candidate or someone running under the banner of a new, as-yet-unnamed party could win. 'Not impossible, but it's highly unlikely,' said Sean Phillippi, a Democratic strategist who has worked for many political campaigns, in South Florida and statewide. 'I would say less than 1% chance.' The main reason, Phillippi and others said, is that while there is a large share of people who aren't registered in a political party, that doesn't mean they are truly 'independent' in the way most people think of the term. And it doesn't mean that they're moderate/centrist/middle-of-the-road voters who are looking for a moderate/centrist candidate. Most voters registered to vote with no party affiliation are really people who align with, and overwhelmingly vote for, one party or another. They don't really switch back and forth and aren't really up for grabs. That's the assessment shared by Phillippi; Steve Schale, the Democratic strategist who ran the Florida campaigns for his party's two most recent big wins, by Barack Obama in 2008 and 2012; Kevin Wagner, a political science professor at Florida Atlantic University; and others. Wagner said that 'many NPA voters are actually partisan voters, they just don't identify or register as a member of a party.' Phillippi termed them 'closet partisans.' Schale estimated 75% or more are strongly partisan, aligned with either the Democrats or Republicans. Many people don't want to have a party label attached to their names in public records. Others are conservative, and think the Republican Party isn't conservative enough, or are liberal and think the Democratic Party isn't liberal enough. And some don't care enough about politics to pick a party, said Susan MacManus, a professor emerita of political science at the University of South Florida. And although their numbers look large on paper, their theoretical impact as a voting bloc is diluted because NPA voters turn out at a lower rate than people who are registered in one of the two big parties, Phillippi said. Several terms can apply to non-Democrats or non-Republicans. In Florida, someone doesn't want to register to vote in a political party can sign up as 'no party affiliation,' or NPA. Many people use no party affiliation or NPA synonymously with independent. Florida also has an actual 'Independent Party.' Elections supervisors have said that some voters, confused by the name and considering themselves independent, inadvertently register in that party when their actual intention would be to register as NPA. As of April 30, 25.8% of Florida's registered voters are NPA. Florida also has many minor parties — often referred to as 'third' parties even though there are currently 15 of them. About 2% of the state's voters are registered with the Independent Party. Another 1.1% are divided among the Conservative, Constitution, Ecology, Green, Libertarian and Reform and eight other parties. A widely shared assessment is that Morgan or Pizzo would act as a spoiler, dividing the votes of people who want something different from what they've had since 1998 when Republicans began their unbroken streak of governor's race wins. 'It can work, but in most cases it just ends up splitting the opposition vote,' Wagner said. 'In most cases third-party candidates are more likely to be a spoiler than to be successful.' Broward County Commissioner Steve Geller and Palm Beach County Commissioner Maria Sachs, both Democrats and former members of the Florida House and Senate, said they hope Pizzo and Morgan ultimately don't run. If one of them is on the ballot, 'then it will split our party and a Republican will walk in,' Sachs said. 'An independent candidate with money would certainly hurt the Democrats … I do not think that an independent party or no political affiliation (candidate) can win any seat in this state.' David Jolly is a former Tampa Bay Republican congressman who became an NPA voter in 2018. He registered as a Democrat in April as he readies for an all-but-certain candidacy for his new party's nomination for governor. He is direct about the impact of an independent candidate. 'There's not a winning, viable path for an NPA,' Jolly said in a recent interview. 'An NPA in 2026 in the governor's race hands Tallahassee to Byron Donalds or Casey DeSantis. That's it. There's no other outcome.' Donalds, a Republican congressman, is already running. DeSantis, the wife of Gov. Ron DeSantis, hasn't yet said if she'll seek the Republican nomination. Term limits prohibit Ron DeSantis from running again. Pizzo bristled at the idea that he'd be a spoiler. 'If they think that I'm a spoiler, then they're concerned about the merit of their own message and the strength of their own message or policy or whatever it is. But really the reality is that there are a lot of really, really excited people and groups about my position. … I hear it every single day in droves,' Pizzo told WFOR-Ch. 4. Schale, who said he is 'proud to be a Democrat,' said he's intrigued by Morgan's efforts and is sympathetic to the desire by some people to have an alternative, centrist party. But he doesn't think the numbers work. 'I think it's a math problem. That's why third-party candidacies over 200 years have largely failed,' Schale said. Republicans start out with a big advantage in Florida, thanks to their big lead among registered voters — 1.25 million ahead of the Democrats as of April 30 — and their tendency to vote for their party's nominee. Only if enough Republicans and enough Democrats break from their parties, could independent voters put a candidate over the top. 'I'm skeptical,' Schale said. He likened it to getting Jacksonville Jaguars fans to support the Tennessee Titans, or University of Florida fans to support the University of Miami. It would still be exceedingly difficult because, he said, even a candidate promoting themselves as a moderate centrist would likely take positions that would alienate some voters. If, for example, a candidate supports abortion rights, that would turn off some anti-abortion NPA voters, Schale said. Schale said a win would likely require one of the two major parties to implode politically. 'You would probably need one of the two party nominees to almost not exist.' History suggests it won't happen. Florida has elected only Democrats and Republicans as governor or to the U.S. Senate for more than 100 years. Phillippi said the notion of an independent candidate capturing enough votes for a victory was more plausible as recently as 15 or 20 years ago. Even then, in the three-way contest for U.S. Senate in 2010 between Republican Marco Rubio, NPA Charlie Crist and Democrat Kendrick Meek, it didn't happen. Crist was the sitting Republican governor, but broke away when it became obvious he wouldn't win the party's primary for U.S. Senate. Rubio won with Crist finishing second. Today, Phillippi and Wagner said, political polarization is so extensive that people are much more likely to stick with their party. MacManus agreed that the consensus among most people involved in politics is that an independent or minor party candidate would lose and doom the Democrats' chances, but she's not completely convinced. 'Independents are an increasingly important bloc of voters,' she said. More people, especially young voters, are 'turning their backs on political parties,' creating a potential path. Schale too said it's not completely impossible, though unlikely 'We live in these unprecedented times,' he said. 'The world's kind of a mess right now and voters are frustrated.' A major challenge for Pizzo is that, even though his name is known in political circles, he's not a familiar name to many people beyond that realm. Representing one of 40 state Senate districts is far different from getting known in a large state with 10 media markets. Morgan said in Tallahassee he didn't think Pizzo had the name recognition to win. Morgan is far better known than Pizzo. His face is ubiquitous on TV ads and billboards promoting his law firm and its 'For the People' slogan. Best known as a personal injury lawyer, he also has political experience. He was the driving force behind referendums that increased the minimum wage in Florida and legalized medical marijuana. Morgan and Pizzo are both wealthy, and have the resources to put millions of dollars of their own money into campaigns. It would take lots of money and time to develop a campaign infrastructure that can turn out voters, or at least attempt to do so. Republicans are using the Morgan and Pizzo moves to highlight state Democrats' political difficulties. And, with Morgan planning the contest to come up with a name for his new party, the Republicans offered up some of their own suggestions — such as 'United Ambulance Chasers' party to reflect Morgan's occupation — and launched its own online form for people to submit ideas. Power said later via text that Morgan's and Pizzo's quests are doomed and show the Democratic Party is incapable of winning elections. 'Their idea of third-party runs are just further proof that the Florida Democratic Party is dead. Both Pizzo and Morgan are radical liberals, just slapping a new label on themselves won't fix their flawed views,' Power said. 'A third-party candidate has zero chance of winning, just ask Charlie Crist.' Anthony Man can be reached at aman@ and can be found @browardpolitics on Bluesky, Threads, Facebook and Mastodon.
Yahoo
14-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Orlando attorney John Morgan won't say he's running for governor. But he is starting a new party
TALLAHASSEE – People have been asking John Morgan to run for governor and talking about his potential candidacy for so long, the Orlando celebrity lawyer told a local political club, 'that I became like a candidate and that's where all this talk is coming from.' But the high-profile Florida lawyer, who is known nationally for his billboards and TV ads with his 'For the People' slogan and for getting medical marijuana and a $15 minimum wage approved in Florida, is not running, he told members of the Capital Tiger Bay Club Wednesday. Not yet, anyway. But he is starting his own political party. 'If there are certain people running and have a chance of being governor, it may be too much for me to bear,' Morgan said. 'There are moments when I think I could do it, but when I am in my house in Hawaii with a marijuana cigarette and a glass of rosé…' he added, letting the thought trail off. Instead, he said, he's going to take a wait-and-see approach before deciding if he wants to enter the fray. 'I'm into horse racing,' said Morgan, who was born in Kentucky and spent most of his childhood there until his family moved to Winter Park when he was 14. 'When you go to the horse races, the horses come out, they come down the back, they come around. And when they start coming down the stretch that's when you have a good idea how that race is going to finish.' That way it's more of a sprint than a marathon, Morgan told a gaggle of reporters after an hour-long speech peppered with anecdotes and the names of national political people he knows. 'I'd rather have a three month window than an 18-month window.' So far, U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds, a Republican from Naples, is the only major candidate to file to run for governor in 2026, when Gov. Ron DeSantis is required to step down because of term limits. Donalds, who has been endorsed by President Donald Trump, could wind up running against First Lady Casey DeSantis should she decide to run, as has long been rumored. Former Senate Democratic Leader Jason Pizzo of Miami, who abruptly quit the Democratic Party during the last days of the regular legislative session, has also said he would run for governor as an independent and committed to spend $25 million of his own money. In his speech announcing he would leave the party, Pizzo said the Democrats were 'dead' in Florida but also felt the GOP offered nothing. Morgan agreed that both parties have failed Floridians, and he blamed former Tallahassee Commissioner Andrew Gillum, the unsuccessful Democratic candidate for governor in 2018, for 'smashing' the state apparatus that year. Morgan donated heavily to Gillum's campaign and got angry when he learned that Gillum left at least $2 million unspent and lost by 'a smidge' to DeSantis. He said he didn't know Pizzo but didn't think he had the necessary name recognition to win. And besides, he said, he couldn't think of the last time an independent candidate won a statewide election in Florida. 'I don't think there's a future for just running as an independent,' Morgan said. People tend to identify with teams, he said, and there needs to be a team for those who are alienated by both Republicans and Democrats. To that end, Morgan proposed starting a third party. But first it needs a name, so he plans to send out a notice after Memorial Day asking people to come up with a moniker for the party and award a cash prize to the winner. Morgan ran a similar contest four years ago when he asked people to come up with a jingle for his law firm, and got bombarded with submissions. The winner worked at a bar in Altamonte Springs and got $100,000. Morgan has the political savvy to start a statewide party. He's successfully run two statewide campaigns — investing millions of his own money into ballot initiatives to legalize medical marijuana and raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour. 'There has to be a team for all of us stuck in the middle,' Morgan said. 'There's a whole bunch of us. Maybe more of us than them to the left and the right that are stuck in the middle. Reminds me of that song, clowns to the left of me, jokers to the right.' He's already spent the money on a consultant to help file the paperwork to start a new party, and now needs to recruit enough candidates to make it viable, he said. 'And then I want to say, 'Who wants to join?'' Morgan said. 'And look, I may turn around with a trombone and turn around and find nobody is marching behind me down Main Street. And that's OK.'
Yahoo
12-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Jason Pizzo says he'll run for Florida governor as an independent
State Sen. Jason Pizzo, who's talked about running for Florida governor for much of the past year, is ready to move beyond talk. He says he will run for the job next year. The part that was unexpected, until just a few weeks ago, is the label that he'll be running under. On April 24, he denounced and quit the Democratic Party and changed his registration to no party affiliation. So he'll be running as a no party affiliation/independent candidate. 'Yes, I am,' Pizzo said in an interview that aired Sunday on WFOR-Ch.4's 'Facing South Florida.' Pizzo said he is equipped to handle the challenge of what he predicted would be a coming state budget deficit. He said he would focus on issues that matter to people, not 'the rhetoric that the Republicans want to push' and won't offer the 'visceral reaction that Democrats have to every little step or statement that the Republicans make.' 'We need somebody who can balance a checkbook, who understands finance, not just economic theory, who's concerned about infrastructure and resiliency and the environment and education and all of these things that are at the top of mind for people that are just trying to keep a roof over their head, keep their kids clothed and educated,' Pizzo said. 'They want people that say, 'Listen, how am I going to pay my taxes? How am I going to pay my mortgage or my rent? Is my environment, when I flush my toilet, will it work? When it rains, is it going to inundate me with flooding, and can I really even afford to live here with property insurance?'' he said. Pizzo, a longtime Miami-Dade County resident, is now registered to vote in Broward County. In April, when he announced his departure from the Democratic Party during a speech from the floor of the state Senate, he alluded to his move when he said he sent his registration change to Broward Supervisor of Elections Joe Scott. The Elections Office confirmed Monday that he is a registered NPA in the county. Other details are exempt from public disclosure because of Pizzo's past work prosecuting dangerous criminals as an assistant Miami-Dade County state attorney. A statewide campaign in Florida, a large state with 10 media markets, is an expensive undertaking. Gov. Ron DeSantis and his allied political committee spent $100 million on his 2022 reelection. His unsuccessful Democratic challenger Charlie Crist spent about $31 million. Four years earlier, DeSantis and his Democratic opponent Andrew Gillum spent about $100 million total. Pizzo is in a position to self fund a large part of a campaign if he chooses. His latest financial disclosure filed as a state senator showed he estimated his net worth as of Dec. 31, 2023, was $59.1 million. When 'Facing South Florida' host Jim DeFede asked Pizzo if he planned on self-financing his campaign and would decline political action committee or other outside money, Pizzo said this: 'It'll be private. I'll raise it myself.' Florida Senate Democrats change course with new leader Lori Berman. 'She doesn't fly off the cuff.' Democrat Pizzo, edging closer to run for Florida governor, sees Republican Donalds candidacy as irrelevant Campaign cash flows to state Rep. Cassel after her switch to Republican Party Looking for relevance in Republican Florida, Democratic leader seeks distance from progressives Dissatisfied with his party's potential candidates, Democratic state senator may run for Florida governor David Jolly entices Florida Democrats with dream of winning 2026 governor's race In the past, Pizzo said, he has refused to accept campaign contributions from special interests seeking to influence his position on particular issues. 'I'm going to be on the right position, that I think is the right position based on the merit of the position, and not based on a donation, and it sucks that we're here, Jim, but that's the reality,' Pizzo said. Pizzo didn't immediately return a request for comment on Monday. Regardless of whether Pizzo wins or loses, his decision has an impact on Broward County. Since the 2022 election, Pizzo's district has been a mostly Broward district. He was elected last year to a four-year term, but under the state's resign-to-run law he would have to resign the Senate seat to run for governor. He would have to submit an irrevocable resignation at the end of May 2026, 10 days before candidates officially begin qualifying to get on the ballot. That would trigger an election in November 2026 to fill the remaining two years on Pizzo's Senate term. Former Senate Democratic Leader Lauren Book, who left office because of term limits last year, has already filed paperwork to run for the Pizzo-held Senate seat, and has said she'd run in 2026 or 2028, whenever the seat opens. Another potential candidate is state Rep. Hillary Cassel, who represents much of the same territory that's in the state Senate district. In December, after last year's election, Cassel also quit the Democratic Party and registered as a Republican. She previously filed paperwork to run for reelection, but could switch. Cassel didn't immediately respond to a request for comment Monday. The 37th state Senate district takes in most of Broward east of Interstate 95 from Davie Boulevard in Fort Lauderdale north to the Palm Beach County line. South of Davie Boulevard it takes in nearly all of Broward east of Florida's Turnpike. It includes the downtown Fort Lauderdale business district, wealthy enclaves along the coast, Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport and Port Everglades. It also includes a pocket of northeast Miami-Dade County, including Aventura. It may seem early for candidates to declare their plans for the 2026 governor's race, but it isn't. Candidates often file formal paperwork, or at least signal their intentions, during the first half of the year before a major statewide election. Republican Congressman Byron Donalds is already seeking his party's nomination, and has been endorsed by President Donald Trump. Casey DeSantis, wife of the governor, also may run in the Republican primary. Term limits prevent Ron DeSantis from running again. Former Congressman David Jolly, a former Republican and now a Democrat, has been traveling the state as he gears up for a run. And another much talked about potential no party affiliation/independent candidate for governor, the trial lawyer John Morgan, whose firm is ubiquitous on TV ads and on billboards, is set to deliver a major speech Wednesday in Tallahassee. Pizzo, 48, first elected to the Senate in 2018, is well known in political circles. A statewide poll conducted May 5-7 for the James Madison Institute, a conservative think tank, found Pizzo isn't well known. The poll found 35% said they weren't familiar with him and 21% said they had no opinion. He was viewed favorably by 22% and unfavorably by 23%. In a September 2024 interview, Pizzo described a scenario where 'somebody like me' could get elected. 'I think I would offer the best chance' for the Democrats, Pizzo said. 'When you go down the checklist of boxes, the pros and cons, yeah, I would like my chances.' He said at the time that the large number of no party affiliation voters — who make up more than a quarter of the state's registered voters — are looking for something different than what Democrats have offered up in recent elections. They would 'love to have an alternative, would like to dip their toe into something else,' he said last year, a message he leaned into during his WFOR-Ch. 4 appearance. 'NPAs decide who wins elections in this state.' As recently as February, he said he might be the Democratic nominee for governor. He spent much of his five months as Senate Democratic leader emphasizing a centrist message and seeking to distance the party from its progressive wing. It concluded with a late-April speech when he resigned his leadership position, declared the party 'dead,' and became an NPA. Anthony Man can be reached at aman@ and can be found @browardpolitics on Bluesky, Threads, Facebook and Mastodon.
Yahoo
12-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
State Sen. Jason Pizzo to run for Florida governor as no-party-affiliated candidate
Two weeks after quitting the Democratic Party and becoming a no-party-affiliated member of the Legislature, state Sen. Jason Pizzo said he'll enter the governor's race. Pizzo, of Sunny Isles Beach, told CBS News Miami on May 9 he'll be a candidate. As an NPA candidate, he'll forgo a primary campaign and be on the November 2026 ballot. 'We need somebody who can balance a checkbook, who understands finance, not just economic theory; who's concerned about infrastructure and resiliency and the environment and education and all of these things that are top of mind for people that are just trying to keep a roof over their head, keep their kids clothed and educated," Pizzo said. A former assistant state attorney for the Miami-Dade State Attorney's Office, the 48-year-old Pizzo was first elected to the Senate in 2018. He was reelected in 2022 and became the Senate Democratic leader after the 2024 election. He'll be term-limited next year. But Pizzo was more centrist than the rest of his caucus and on April 24 announced he was stepping down as Democratic leader and leaving the party, declaring the Florida Democratic Party 'dead.' That remark was ripped by Democrats who insisted the party still has a pulse in the Sunshine State. 'Jason's failure to build support within our party for a gubernatorial run has led to this final embarrassing temper tantrum,' Florida Democratic Party Chair Nikki Fried said after Pizzo left the party. 'I'd be lying if I said I'm sad to see him go, but I wish him the best of luck in the political wilderness he's created for himself.' But Democrats have won just two Cabinet races since 1998 and have been shut out of power at the state level since 1999. Meanwhile, Florida is shedding its 'swing state' label as Republicans have not only won in recent years, but padded the score. DeSantis, for instance, won reelection in 2022 by nearly 20 points. Also, Republicans have racked up a more than 1.2 million active voter registration advantage over Democrats, who had held the lead over the GOP for decades. Pizzo is the scion of a real estate mogul: He inherited a fortune from his father, Kenneth Pizzo Sr. His most recent financial disclosure form showed his net worth at $59 million. And Pizzo said he's prepared to put $25 million into his own campaign. Other major candidates include former U.S. Rep. David Jolly, an anti-Trump Republican who left the GOP and announced he was becoming a Democrat on April 24, the same day Pizzo left the party. U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds of Naples is the biggest Republican candidate to get in the race so far. He raised $11.6 million in about a month, according to state campaign finance records, after jumping into the race in February. Donalds has the endorsement of President Donald Trump and is the presumed front-runner to succeed Gov. Ron DeSantis, who also is term-limited in 2026. DeSantis, though, hasn't endorsed Donalds and has been critical of him while floating the possibility that his wife, First Lady Casey DeSantis, could get in the race. Gray Rohrer is a reporter with the USA TODAY Network-Florida Capital Bureau. He can be reached at grohrer@ Follow him on X: @GrayRohrer. This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Jason Pizzo announces bid for governor after leaving Democratic Party
