Byron Donalds wins Florida governor's race

Before I say anything, I want to thank my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. My 30 years in Florida has been a very interesting 30 years, but more than anything, it's been a story of redemption. It's been a story of people that I met along the way, back in college, through young adulthood, coaching kids, serving in church, being in the Tea Party movement, finding my way to politics. And now, I am your next governor. I want to thank my wife, because Erica's been the rock of our family. She's allowed me to do this. Everybody give it up for the next first lady of the great state of Florida. I want to thank my sons, because my sons have had to sacrifice probably more than anybody else. You see, for everybody listening, Nothing happens just because it happens. It's a lot of sacrifice along the way, and sometimes the people who sacrifice the most are the people who love you the most. And so I just want to thank my sons for letting me be on this journey. To my family, to my mom, my mom is here tonight. To my mother, you laid the foundation in the man that I have become. So I just want to say, Mom, thank you. I just had a phone call. I actually just had two phone calls. The first phone call was from David Jolly. No, no, no, hold on, hold on. We talked, and I had to congratulate David on running a hard-fought race. He did. And so in this campaign, if you know anything from me, we work hard every single day, and we work hard and we do it with integrity, and we win with class and dignity. And I want to congratulate David on a hard-fought race because... The truth is, in our state, we have people who are struggling. We have people who are looking at their insurance bills. We have people who are looking at their bank accounts, not month in, month out, day in, day out, trying to figure out how they're going to make ends meet. And my mission as Florida's next governor is to make sure that they can build a great life here in the great state of Florida. The second call that I received tonight was from the President of the United States, Donald J. Trump. Mr. President, I want you to hear from Florida that we are still red. But Mr. President, I also want to tell you thank you for your support and thank you for being in my corner. I also want to thank Governor DeSantis Thank you very much. because Governor DeSantis has done a great job leading Florida these last eight years. And now as your next governor, we are going to make sure that Florida remains the very best state in all of America. We're going to be focused on the issues that I've been talking about in this campaign trail for a long time. We are going to drive down costs for the people of this state. We are going to lower insurance premiums for the people of this state. We are going to make housing more affordable for the people of this state. We are going to protect the agriculture lands, our water and our environment here for the future of this state. In our state, we are not going to tolerate bigotry of any kind, including anti-Semitism. Florida will be a state for everybody. We are going to build the economy to heights never even thought. We will be a top ten global economy as your next governor. But at its core, at its core... We are going to be a state that makes sure that the children of Florida belong to their parents and not to the government. To my team, to the campaign team that worked with me on this effort. Guys, I've got to tell you, I've seen a lot of campaigns come and go. My campaign team is the very best in all of America. The very best. We knocked doors over 2 million. We toured every county in this state. We hit 50 cities in 13 days. We were making phone calls non-stop. I know everybody in Florida is happy that the text messages are coming to an end. But we did it for one reason more than any other. You see, our state is without a doubt the very best. It's been that way because of common sense, conservative principles that back law enforcement like T.K. Waters in Jacksonville and all of our sheriffs in the great state of Florida. We are the state that people have chosen time and time and time again. We are the state that people from New York and California run to because we're the very best and we know how to keep government out of your way. And so tonight, Florida, I want to send a special thank you to all of the people of this great state. Even if you didn't vote for me, you have my word that I will be your governor, too. This might be the shortest speech I've given on the campaign trail, but it doesn't need to be long. Tonight we celebrate, tomorrow we work, and over the next four years we're going to take Florida to a whole new level. God bless you, Florida. God bless you, Florida. God bless America.