Donalds, Jolly say their camps are just beginning to discuss debates • Florida Phoenix

TAMPA — Byron Donalds says David Jolly 'isn't doing much of anything' on the campaign trail, but Jolly is firing back that it's Donalds who dropped out of what would have been the first one-on-one events between the two men running for governor of Florida. Those verbal exchanges took place over the Labor Day weekend, when both men made separate campaign appearances in Tampa. Donalds went first, speaking Saturday afternoon at an event with veterans near MacDill Air Force Base, where he accused his Democratic opponent of running a stealth campaign similar to what other Democrats have done in winning governorships and, in the case of Joe Biden, the presidency in recent years. 'Since the primary a couple of weeks ago, we have been doing events, rallies, Q&As, all over Florida,' Donalds said. 'But I noticed that Jolly does not take questions. … He's never around for the voters to ask him something.' Donalds compared Jolly's campaign to those of Arizona's Katie Hobbs in 2022, Virginia's Abigail Spanberger in 2025, and Joe Biden's for president in 2020, complaining they ran 'like potted plants, never saying anything.' '[He] ran the very famous basement campaign,' Donalds said of Biden. Jolly wasn't having any of that when asked about it Monday. 'It's fiction,' he told the Phoenix while attending the West Central Florida Labor Council Labor Day Picnic. 'We're standing at a picnic talking about this. Last week, I was in Pensacola. Tallahassee. Jacksonville. Miami. All in about four days. If there's one thing that our campaign's been known for, it's been the Lawton Chiles approach of the last 18 months. That's the reality.' (Then-state Sen. Lawton Chiles walked 1,000 miles from Pensacola to Miami on the way to victory in the 1970 U.S. Senate race.) And Jolly says it's Donalds who backed out of a scheduled event between the two at the Tampa Tiger Bay Club later this month.'I will tell you that he's just cancelled on one we were going to do jointly at Tiger Tampa Bay,' Jolly said. 'He pulled out of that, and now he pulled out of doing it solo and he's sending Avila.' A board member with the Tampa Tiger Bay Club Monday confirmed to the Phoenix that the Donalds campaign had initially agreed to appear jointly with Jolly. However, the board member continued, the campaign called later to say Donalds wanted to appear separately, and then reached out again to say he would not appear at all, but instead could offer his running mate, former Miami-Dade County Republican state Sen. Bryan Avila. A source close to the Donalds campaign said it never confirmed Byron would attend. 'At no point was it on our calendar,' said the source, adding that that the campaign learned of the appointment 'after the fact.' Avila is now scheduled to appear at the Tampa Tiger Bay Club on Sept. 18. Jolly is scheduled to speak on Sept. 25. Beginning stages Both men said their campaigns are in the beginning stages of planning debates that definitely will happen sometime in the next eight weeks. 'I don't think there's been communication among camps,' Jolly said Monday. 'We're trying to get the logistics worked out on our side,' Donalds said Saturday. Jolly says he hopes that, when the two do convene, the setup creates more light than heat. 'I have no interest in a debate for sports and to inject more toxicity into the conversation,' he said. 'I really mean that. I don't see any value in a format that puts in front of people that cheer and they boo and create memes and do whatever. That's a social media game.' 'That's why Tiger Bay's a great format,' he added. 'Let the people ask the questions. Give them an award for the hardest questions, right?' Donalds said its important for the voters to know where Jolly stands on the issues, which is why he reiterated his request on Saturday for three debates before the general election. 'We are looking forward to those debates.' Jolly is as well, but says the charge he's running a 'basement campaign' reflects that 'we're seeing a campaign on their side that's struggling to find their footing.' 'They've tried the culture war hits. They've tried tax hits. They're trying guns and immigration. Now they're trying the repeat of what Trump did against Biden, because that's all they know how to do.'