The Republican turned Democrat tells WSLR News about the affordability crisis, schools, climate change, his party switch, and why he’s different from Charlie Crist.
By Brice Claypoole and Johannes Werner
Original Air Date: September 5, 2025
Host: David Jolly is an attorney, a former lobbyist, Republican Congressman representing District 13 in the Tampa Bay area and a political commentator on CNN and MSNBC. He quit the Republican Party in 2018. He registered as a Democrat this year, and now he is running for governor of Florida. Jolly is scheduled to appear in Sarasota this Tuesday, and WSLR News intern Brice Claypoole caught up with him before that.
Johannes Werner: The elephant in the room is David Jolly’s change of party affiliation—and his similarities to Charlie Crist, the Democratic candidate for governor and former Republican governor who lost to Ron DeSantis by a 15% margin three years ago.
Brice Claypoole asked him about that.
Brice Claypoole: You’re a Republican turned Democrat from Florida’s 13th Congressional District. Three years ago, someone else with that same resume lost in a landslide to Ron DeSantis. What’s the difference between you and Charlie Crist?
David Jolly. Photo via davidjolly.com
David Jolly: I think many Floridians got exhausted, and so all Democrats got wiped out. It wasn’t just the gubernatorial candidate. Now, how am I different? A couple different ways. One, I spent six years as an independent. I have not been on the ballot in 10 years. My journey was not one of chasing public office. It was about following my convictions, and that led me away from the Republican Party. I’ve changed my politics over the past 10 or 15 years. I’ve grown as I’ve served, and change is part of my story. Whether it is being a Republican in favor of marriage equality or gun control or accepting climate science, I journeyed away from the Republican Party. If I have a strong difference with former Governor Crist, it’s that he tried to convince the state he never changed. I’m trying to convince the state that I have.
JW: Asked about what would get him beyond the 40% Democratic candidates have been getting lately in Sarasota, Jolly said this:
DJ: A couple reasons. One, I’m showing up. I’ve been in Sarasota and Manatee probably a dozen times in the last four months, and I’m going to be there many dozen times more before the end of this race. Every candidate’s different. I’m committed to every part of this state, including some of our red communities. I’m showing up, as Lawton Chiles did, in Zephyrhills, Florida. I’m on my third trip to the villages and my third trip to the Panhandle. So I’m showing up.
But secondly, I will tell you we are in a moment in Florida history where the affordability crisis is hitting everybody. That includes families across Sarasota, Manatee and southwest Florida. And Republicans don’t have an answer for it. In fact, Republicans have created the insurance crisis in the state of Florida, Republicans have created the schools crisis in the state of Florida, and Republicans launched the culture wars, which I intend to end.
JW: Jolly’s top three issues are housing affordability, support for public schools and access to vaccines.
DJ: I think the state of Florida is suffering from an affordability crisis right now that’s impacting every Floridian regardless of where in the state you live, regardless of your personal income and—importantly—regardless of your voter registration, whether you’re a Democrat, independent or Republican. A lot of that affordability crisis is focused on access to housing—the cost of housing. I do think we need a state catastrophic fund to remove hurricane coverage from the private market. You could cut property insurance by 60 or 70% if we did that.
Protesters in Sarasota hold signs in support of public schools and students.
I also think we need to have a 10-year renaissance in public education. That is not to say we eliminate the voucher program, but I think we need to recognize that Florida’s education system has been abandoned by Republican leaders in Tallahassee. We are a better state when we have excellence in public education. I know we have excellent teachers. I think they need our support. When it comes to voucher schools, I think we need to increase the requirements. If you send your kid to a voucher school, you should get an excellent education there. They should have to provide services. If your first grade kid can’t read, you should be provided an IEP. None of those requirements right now are on our voucher schools, so I do think education is an important area. And, given recent events, it sounds like we’re going to need a governor to fight for public health across the state of Florida and to make sure that vaccines are something that are a priority in our schools and that people’s public and personal health is provided for.
JW: Brice Claypoole asked Jolly about climate change.
BC: Another big issue here in Florida is climate change. Whether it’s flooding, heat, dying corals, we’re seeing the impacts all the time. And yet a lot of national Democrats seem to be retreating on climate since 2024. What’s your stance on this issue?
The sandbar at the north fork of Phillippi Creek, flooded in the aftermath of Debby. Photo by Jim McWhorter via Sarasota News Leader
DJ: Listen. We’re going to accept climate science when I’m governor. We’re going to reverse this irresponsible position of Republicans in Tallahassee denying climate science. We’re going to recognize that climate science is real. It’s here. The state and the Earth are hotter, the water is warmer, the storms are bigger, and we are in greater danger because of the negligence of Republicans in Tallahassee. I don’t have any apologies for fighting that fight. We are going to appoint people to our regulatory commissions, to our water boards, that believe in clean air and clean water. We’re going to appoint people to our Public Service Commission to begin to require our utilities to incorporate more clean and renewable energies, driving down costs for consumers but ensuring stewardship of the environment.
JW: Jolly added that he would purge state environmental institutions of DeSantis appointees. He also promised to pursue campaign finance reform.
David Jolly is scheduled to appear in Sarasota this Tuesday, September 9. Hosted by the Democratic Women’s Club of Sarasota, he will be at the Fogartyville Community Center at 6 p.m. for a conversation and meet-and-greet. The event is private.
WSLR News intern Brice Claypoole arranged and performed the interview.
WSLR News aims to keep the local community informed with our 1/2 hour local news show, quarterly newspaper and social media feeds. The local news broadcast airs on Wednesdays and Fridays at 6pm.
