Byron Donalds makes election eve Sarasota campaign stop

Senate candidate Ashley Moody, tagging along, used the opportunity to paint her opponent as a radical.

By Ramon Lopez

Original Air Date: Nov. 3, 2026

Host: In the last days before the 2026 midterm elections, the race for Florida governor made two high-profile stops in Sarasota – within just 48 hours of each other. On Monday, it was Republican Byron Donalds who stopped in Sarasota, joined by a high-profile slate of candidates, including Ashley Moody, who is running for one of Florida’s two U.S. Senate seats. WSLR News reporter Ramon Lopez was there.

Byron Donalds and wife Erika. | Photo: Ramon Lopez

Ramon Lopez: Americans are marching to the polls today in mid-term elections widely seen as a referendum on Donald Trump’s second presidency. Democrat and Republican candidates alike have scrambled in recent days to deliver their final pitches to voters. At stake? Control of the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives, both currently held by the Republicans.

Here in Florida yesterday, Republican Byron Donalds held a get-out-to-vote rally at Sarasota Bradenton International Airport. About 2,000 local GOP members turned out to cheer on Donalds bid to succeed Ron DeSantis as governor. He’s running against Democrat David Jolly. Jerry and Gina Yu drove all the way from North Port to cheer on Donalds.

Jerry Yu:  I think he’s a good candidate. He would make a good governor. I prefer more conservative views. Let’s put it that way. It’s always conservative, but more and more lately, as older you get.

RL: Donalds’ campaign bus tour of the Sunshine State started on Oct. 19.  Yesterday marked his second Sarasota-area stop in 11 days. Riding along with him was U.S. Senator Ashley Moody who is being challenged by Angie Nixon.

Hundreds of supporters gathered at an airport hangar in Sarasota. | Photo: Lopez

Donalds supports Florida’s Amendment 3 property tax referendum on the ballot in November. This, despite widespread fear that it will lead to service cuts. 

Byron Donalds: Amendment 3’s on the ballot. It’s in your hands. I’m voting for it, but you have my promise that whether it passes or fails, we want to lower property taxes for working families, families, and for seniors on fixed income, while making sure that Sheriff Wells and his deputies and our firefighters and our emergency personnel get the resources that they need to keep our community safe.  

RL: Donalds worked the enthusiastic crowd with relish.

BD: Tomorrow, we win this state one more time. Tomorrow on your next … as your governor, as your governor, you have my word. We will be diligent in every aspect of delivering on the promises of this campaign to make sure that Florida is second to none here in the United States of America. Sarasota, are you with me to win tomorrow? The dream is alive and well The free state of Florida. Well, I’m telling you, we need your vote. Get out and vote because the Democrats are gonna find out one more time that they can have their crazy in California, they can keep the idiocy in Illinois, Mamdani stays in New York, but it doesn’t come to the free state of Florida.  

RL: Senator Moody’s speech attacked Angie Nixon’s political position.

Ashley Moody | Photo: Lopez

Ashley Moody:  I’m running against someone who signed up for the DSA. They want to attack the constitutional framework, defund the police, kneecap our military, non-citizen voting, abolish prisons. I could go on, but you’re seeing the pattern here, right? It has been my honor to be your senator. Thank you so much. Together we’re going to stand strong tomorrow. We’re going to bring it home.

RL: WSLR spoke to Senator Moody after the rally concluded. She’s encouraged by the early voting turnout. And she amplified her criticism of Nixon.

AM: Yeah, I think we’re watching that very close, but at the end of the day, a lot of Republicans show up on election day. It’s important that we’re talking to every Floridian, right? I’ve been very focused, not just on talking to Republicans, but making sure I’m making our case to independents and Democrats as well. And I think, at the end of the day, when you’re choosing whether you’re going to vote Moody or Nixon, it’s either freedom or socialism. It’s safe communities, or chaos and defunded police. And even if you set aside the fact that she voluntarily signed up for the DSA, the Democrat Socialists of America, when given a microphone, she chooses to quote the Communist Manifesto and cop killers. She has a bookstore called Cafe Resistance, which has a shrine to cop killers. So I don’t label her that way. It is the way she labels herself, and it’s the agenda she puts forward, which is probably closer to communism than socialism. And so at the end of the day, I’ll go back to how I started. There is a very stark difference between the way we have presented government and what it should stand for. I believe it is at its core to protect the rights of the people and their safety. At its core, she believes it should kneecap those that protect people and do away with the constitutional framework that protects their rights.

RL: On the campaign trail, Ramon Lopez for WSLR News.

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