WLRN has partnered with PolitiFact to fact-check Florida politicians. The Pulitzer Prize-winning team seeks to present the true facts, unaffected by agenda or biases.
FORT LAUDERDALE — Both of Florida’s gubernatorial candidates spoke Sept. 23 at WLRN’s Sunshine Economy Summit — possibly the closest they will get to appearing on the same stage this election cycle.
That’s because Democrat David Jolly and Republican U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds disagree about where and when to debate before the Nov. 3 election.
Jolly announced Sept. 20 he won’t participate in a debate, saying Donalds has shared falsehoods throughout the campaign. This will be the first time in 50 years Florida won’t have a gubernatorial debate.
WLRN Public Media CEO Tom Hudson moderated the gubernatorial panels at the Broward County Convention Center. The discussion focused on affordability and the candidates’ proposals for lowering Floridians’ costs on housing, property insurance and taxes.
Here are fact-checks of some of Jolly’s and Donalds’ statements.
Jolly on data centers: “75% of the state is saying ‘please don’t do this right now. Give us more time. Let’s study it. We don’t want data centers.’”
Researchers warn that public opinion on a fast-developing issue can be a moving target. Still, most recent polls show surging dissatisfaction among Floridians about data centers.
A July University of North Florida poll found 68% of Floridians surveyed opposed building data centers in their areas. Other state polls found more Floridians against new data centers than for them, with opposition ranging from 49% to 79%.
Floridians’ level of opposition to data centers construction is largely in line with national polling.
READ MORE: WLRN Economy Summit: David Jolly proposes state-backed disaster insurance, opposes Amendment 3
While data center supporters say the facilities can increase local employment and boost tax revenues, many Americans have concerns about their electricity and water usage and quality of life issues, such as noise.
Jolly pledges to institute a one-year moratorium on new data centers if elected; Donalds says he’s open to them with consumer protections attached.
Jolly: His proposed state fund to absorb wind insurance coverage from the private market “cuts insurance by 60 to 70%.”
Experts say the savings are unlikely to be as much as Jolly says.
His campaign calculated that removing wind coverage on a $300,000 home where owners are paying around $7,136 a year in insurance would decrease the bill to $2,556 a year — a 64% savings.
Jolly hasn’t released a detailed plan for how his proposed state fund would work. He told PolitiFact that Floridians would not need to purchase a separate wind policy, and the fund could potentially use private insurance carriers to underwrite and service claims.
Experts said removing wind coverage from the private insurance market would decrease consumers’ bills, at least initially, and could also produce savings by removing private profit, which is baked into premiums.
Karen Clark, a catastrophe risk modeler, said Florida “accounts for 60% of U.S. hurricane risk due to its location and trillions of dollars of coastal property exposure.” She said no new funding mechanism would change that.
The fund would also require operating expenses to process claims, said Gabriel Carrillo, program director at the University of Central Florida’s Center for Risk Management and Insurance Education. If private wind coverage is completely removed, “The risk would then be borne by all consumers, not just homeowners.”
Having one state-backed insurer could create a redistribution of costs via emergency assessments on nearly all Florida policyholders — including on auto, home and business policies — if the fund requires a bailout after a catastrophic storm, experts say.
Donalds: There are more Americans moving to Florida “than any other state in the country.”
Donalds is close, but Florida is no longer the No. 1 state for net in-migration. That distinction now belongs to Texas, with Florida coming in second as new data shows the state’s migration boom trailing off.
A June report from the Shimberg Center for Housing Studies at the University of Florida found migration to Florida cooled in 2025, particularly in high-cost areas.
Researchers said new in-migration dropped to about 201,000 residents last year, or about 551 people per day. That’s down from the state’s migration peak in 2022, when nearly 599,000 new residents arrived. Growth shifted to mid-sized counties, such as Polk, Pasco and Marion, which continued to gain residents, while several large metro counties, such as Miami-Dade and Broward, saw population losses.
Researchers said the findings illustrate changing housing demand in Florida, with preferences shifting to communities with more attainable housing and more home construction.
Donalds: “We have already seen that tax refunds are at the highest level they’ve ever been in the history of the United States,” and the average Floridian is paying $3,200 less in taxes now.
This is accurate, though it relies on payroll withholding that may not last.
Americans received an average 2025 direct deposit refund of $3,034, Internal Revenue Service data shows. In 2026, that increased to $3,273, a nearly 8% jump. One analysis found that Florida residents received the highest refunds in the U.S. this year, averaging around $4,433 after adjusting for inflation.
READ MORE: WLRN Economy Summit: Byron Donalds on making Florida more affordable, Amendment 3 support
Refunds in 2026 were higher after Republicans passed President Donald Trump’s signature tax and spending bill in July 2025.
The One Big Beautiful Bill Act permanently lowered individual tax rates and raised the standard deduction, resulting in larger refunds.
But the law took effect months after most employees’ withholding rates were set for the year, and the IRS didn’t update payroll tables until after the law passed. So employers continued to withhold more tax than necessary from paychecks, resulting in higher refunds in 2026. It’s unclear how much this will change going forward, because it will depend on whether employers or employees update their withholding rates.
Like fact-focused Florida coverage?Sign up for our Florida midterms newsletter.
PolitiFact Chief Correspondent Louis Jacobson contributed to this report.
Our Sources
Sources linked in story.
