TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Florida voters could head into the Nov. 3 general election without seeing a single debate between candidates for statewide office, an unusual development as some of the state’s highest-profile campaigns enter their final weeks.
No debates are currently scheduled in the races for governor, U.S. Senate, attorney general, chief financial officer or agriculture commissioner, according to WUSF.
The most consequential breakdown has come in the governor’s race between Republican nominee Byron Donalds and Democratic nominee David Jolly.
Jolly announced Sunday that he would not participate in a debate with Donalds, after the campaigns had previously discussed multiple potential events.
If no debate ultimately occurs, Florida would hold its first gubernatorial general election without one since 1974, according to published reports.
Donalds-Jolly debate plans collapse
The two campaigns had publicly expressed interest in debates following the August primary, but negotiations over the events deteriorated.
Jolly said the current campaign environment and disagreements with Donalds made a debate unlikely to produce a constructive discussion.
The Donalds campaign had previously announced that it accepted invitations for three debates. Reporting by the Tampa Bay Times showed that disagreements remained over the events and their terms before Jolly announced he would no longer participate.
The dispute leaves Florida voters without a scheduled face-to-face encounter between the two candidates competing to succeed Gov. Ron DeSantis.
Senate race also lacks a debate
Florida’s U.S. Senate contest is facing a similar situation.
Republican Sen. Ashley Moody has declined an invitation to debate Democratic nominee Angie Nixon, the Jacksonville state representative who won the Democratic primary in August.
Moody told Action News Jax that she did not want to provide Nixon with a platform, criticizing her political positions and affiliations. Nixon responded by accusing Moody of avoiding scrutiny and called for the senator to debate her.
No debate between Moody and Nixon is currently scheduled.
The development means Florida’s two most prominent statewide contests — governor and U.S. Senate — could both reach Election Day without the major-party nominees appearing together on a debate stage.
Cabinet races have no debates scheduled
The three races feature Republican incumbents James Uthmeier, Blaise Ingoglia and Wilton Simpson, who received endorsements from incoming legislative leaders earlier in the election cycle.
Florida voters will also decide three statewide Cabinet offices in November:
Republican Attorney General James Uthmeier faces Democrat José Javier Rodríguez.
Republican Chief Financial Officer Blaise Ingoglia faces Democrat Annette Taddeo.
Republican Agriculture Commissioner Wilton Simpson faces Democrat Joey Mendoza Atkins.
None of those races currently has a debate scheduled, WUSF reported.
Representatives for several Democratic candidates told the outlet their candidates were willing to debate.
Rodríguez has publicly challenged Uthmeier to participate in one, while representatives for Taddeo and Atkins also expressed interest in debates. WUSF reported that representatives for the Republican candidates did not respond to its requests for comment.
A break with Florida election tradition
Candidate debates have long provided Florida voters an opportunity to compare contenders directly on issues ranging from the economy and property insurance to immigration, abortion, education and taxes.
University of Central Florida political scientist Aubrey Jewett told WUSF that debates remain valuable for voters and described the possibility of having none in Florida’s statewide contests as disappointing from a good-government perspective.
The governor’s race would represent the most significant historical break.
Florida has not held a gubernatorial general election without a debate since 1974.
There is still time for campaigns or media organizations to reach agreements before Election Day.
But as of Sept. 22, Florida has no scheduled debate in any statewide general-election race, leaving open the possibility that millions of voters will cast their ballots without seeing the candidates for the state’s most powerful elected offices confront one another directly.
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