MIAMI — Florida GOP gubernatorial nominee Byron Donalds announced Tuesday he’s tapping state Sen. Bryan Ávila as his running mate, a move that could help bolster the House lawmaker’s support in the state’s large and influential Hispanic community.
Ávila, a Republican lawmaker who represents Hialeah — the epicenter of Florida’s Cuban diaspora — has been leading the Donalds campaign “Latinos for Byron” coalition since May. Donalds’ choice gives him a deputy with deep relationships in the Legislature that he’d need to help enact his agenda. And as a Florida Army National Guard captain, Ávila could also help shore up the state’s sizable veteran vote. Legislation he introduced to regulate data centers could also help mitigate attacks Donalds has faced on the issue.
Donalds made his announcement from Miami’s Freedom Tower, an iconic part of the city’s skyline that now serves as a museum but previously was used to process Cuban refugees who fled communism. Democrats have spent several election cycles playing defense among Latino voters in South Florida as the GOP tries to label them as socialists and communists. This cycle is expected to be no different, particularly since state Rep. Angie Nixon, the Democratic nominee for Senate whose name will appear at the top of the ticket, became a member of the Democratic Socialists of America in June.
Though Donalds’ actual opponent, former Rep. David Jolly, is a more moderate Democrat who only joined the party a little more than a year ago, Republicans up and down the ballot are planning to tie Democrats to the party’s left wing. Donalds has referred to Jolly as a “Trojan horse” for the far left.
Donalds’ decision to select someone from Hialeah also underscores the importance of Miami-Dade County, which used to be a blue part of the state but has shifted more red in the last couple of election cycles under Gov. Ron DeSantis — the first Republican governor to win the county in two decades — and President Donald Trump. Today, Miami-Dade County has 50,000 more registered Republicans than Democrats.
The county’s primary results from Aug. 18, however, may spell trouble for the GOP, given that turnout showed Democrats outnumbering GOP voters by more than 22,000 votes. There is also some unpredictability in Miami-Dade, as one-third of voters who live there are registered independents.
Ávila, 42, was in the Florida House before running for the state Senate. He sponsored legislation that gave some low-income seniors a bigger property tax break on their homes, a credential that could help him as a ballot amendment goes before voters in November to cut property taxes. Outside his work in the military and in the Legislature, Ávila is dean of the School of Criminal Justice at Doral College.
But Ávila also sponsored a 2024 law that limited local governments’ ability to block the demolition of certain older, flood-vulnerable buildings. It drew criticism from preservationists in Miami Beach, who warned it could put thousands of historic buildings at risk of being torn down.
The selection of Ávila means the GOP ticket is more racially diverse than that of Democrats: Donalds would be the first Black governor of Florida if elected in November.
Donalds under Florida law had until nine days after the Aug. 18 primary to announce his running mate. Jolly made his pick of former Rep. Gwen Graham, the daughter of the former senator and Gov. Bob Graham, ahead of the primary. Donalds won the GOP nomination with about 48 percent of the vote, while Jolly took 61 percent on the Democratic side. Polling is scant, but several surveys show the general election margin in the single digits.
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