Republican nominee Byron Donalds is working to win over Black voters in Florida as he hopes to become the state’s first Black governor. During a Miami Gardens visit, he faced tough questions about Donald Trump. Voter Drumene Woodside said, "I was persuaded," and plans to support Donalds this election cycle.
Byron Donalds, the Republican nominee for governor, is working to win over Black voters who usually support Democrats as his party girds for the possibility of low turnout.
The Black men at the Caribbean restaurant outside Miami wanted to hear how Byron Donalds would fix Florida's soaring cost of living when he stopped there to mingle this month.
But they also pressed him about whether he would be a puppet for another Florida voter: Donald J. Trump, the increasingly unpopular president.
Mr. Donalds, the Republican congressman hoping to become Florida's first Black governor, assured them during the private meal in Miami Gardens, Fla., that he was on the ballot -- not Mr. Trump.
"I was persuaded," said Drumene Woodside, 53, who said he would cast his ballot for Mr. Donalds though he normally votes for Democrats.
Mr. Donalds is working to win over Black Floridians like Mr. Woodside in the stretch run, as his party girds for the possibility of low turnout among many of the voters who powered Mr. Trump to victory two years ago.
The race has been surprisingly competitive for a state that has been reliably red for well over a decade. Mr. Donalds's Democratic opponent is David Jolly, a white former Republican congressman who left the party in 2018.
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