David Jolly Highlights Affordability Crisis in Sarasota Campaign Stop

Florida Governor hopeful David Jolly attended an early-evening semi-private meet and greet event last night at the Sage Hotel in downtown Sarasota.  About 75 Democratic Party officers and guests from the greater Sarasota area came to hear and meet Jolly who served as the Republican US House Representative for Florida’s 13th district (Pinellas County) from 2014 to 2017.  In 2018, he became an outspoken Trump critic and left the Republican Party.  Jolly switched his party registration to a Democrat in 2025 when he announced his run for the Florida Governor’s office on June 5th.  

Jolly is making his campaign about affordability in Florida noting that Florida is in the midst of an affordability crisis in affordable housing, skyrocketing insurance costs, and a soaring cost of living.  The recent Trump policies and purges from the federal government will and are having a severe impact on Florida from being able to harvest crops and build homes using migrant labor to impending cuts in Social Security, Medicare, VA benefits, and education.  Jolly believes the time is now for Floridians to vote for the issues that impact their lives rather than by party lines.  His stop in Sarasota is one of many planned across the state in the following months.