Who is Byron Donalds' Wife, Erika? What We Know About Family

Representative Byron Donalds secured the Republican nomination in Florida's governor's race on Tuesday and is due to face off against Democratic former Representative David Jolly in the midterm elections in November.

Key points

• Donalds has represented Florida's 19th District-which includes Cape Coral, Fort Myers and Naples-since 2021 and has built a reputation as being a close ally to President Donald Trump.
• She graduated from Florida State University (FSU) in 2002 and Florida Atlantic University in 2006 with a Master of Accountancy, according to her official website.
• The new poll from Hart Research Associates, by the Democratic Governors Association, discovered Jolly's backing at 46 percent and Donalds' at 45 percent.
• While Sabato's Crystal Ball rates it Probable Republican, the Cook Political Report views the race as Solid Republican.
• A poll from the James Madison Institute discovered Donalds up 7 points among probable voters, 45 percent to 38 percent.

Newsweek is a Trust Project member.

See more of our trusted coverage when you search.to see more of our trusted coverage when you search.

If Donalds wins in November, his wife, Erika Donalds, will become the state's first lady.

Donalds defeated a number of other candidates in Tuesday's primary to win the GOP nomination in the governor's race. He received 47.8 percent of the vote with 99 percent reporting, according to the Associated Press. While investor James Fishback received 10.5 percent, lieutenant Governor Jay Collins received 25.2 percent of the vote. A number of other candidates received single-digit backing.

Donalds has represented Florida's 19th District-which includes Cape Coral, Fort Myers and Naples-since 2021 and has built a reputation as being a close ally to President Donald Trump. This person endorsed his campaign. Prior to his election to Congress, Donalds additionally served in the Florida House of Representatives.

He graduated from Florida State University and worked in the banking and finance industries of Southwest Florida, according to his official biography. He grew up in Brooklyn, New York. Who Will Byron Donalds Run Against?

Donalds will run against Jolly. This person represented a Pinellas County-based district in the U.S. House from 2014 to 2017. When in Congress, Jolly served as a Republican but became an independent in 2018 before switching to the Democratic Party last year against the backdrop of disaffection with the GOP in the Trump era. Who Is Byron Donalds' Wife, Erika?

Erika Donalds has been involved in conservative political activism. She serves as the America First Policy Institute's chair of education opportunity and has been an advocate for school choice. The couple married on March 15, 2003.

In 2017, she founded the Optima Foundation. It her website describes as a "nonprofit created to expand access to classical education through public charter schools across Florida." It is now titled the Education Freedom Foundation.

She previously worked as chief financial officer/chief compliance officer and partner at the investment management firm Dalton, Greiner, Hartman, Maher & Co., LLC, according to FSU.

"I'm so proud of you, " she wrote to her husband this week in an Instagram post ahead of the primary. "All these years afterwards and you're exactly the same humble, caring and robust principled leader you've always been. It is forever my honor to be by your side."

In a video posted to X, she remarked they met while in college. After graduating, he moved to Naples, where she was working as an accountant, she remarked.

"In a span of 18 months, we graduated from college, moved to Naples, got married and had our first son, " she remarked. "We were starting from the bottom. We understand what some of these young individuals are going through as we were there ourselves."

She discussed her views on education policy in July at the American Legislative Exchange Council. She remarked she became involved in activism after pulling her son out of a school that was not the right fit for him. Finding the right school "turned his life around, " she remarked.

"When I had to pull my son out, I discovered the concept of school choice because I didn't have it, " she remarked. "I finally discovered a school, and at the time we had to put it on our credit card. But I remarked I would rather go in debt than have my son hate learning every day."

Donalds has three sons-Damon, Darin and Mason-according to his official House of Representatives bio. Byron Donalds' Chances of Winning Florida Governor's Race.

Though a new Democratic internal poll indicated Jolly with a single-point advantage, most recent surveys show Donalds with a lead.

In practice, the new poll from Hart Research Associates, by the Democratic Governors Association, discovered Jolly's backing at 46 percent and Donalds' at 45 percent. It surveyed 600 probable voters August 10-13, with a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.

Meanwhile, a poll from the James Madison Institute discovered Donalds up 7 points among probable voters, 45 percent to 38 percent. It surveyed 1, 026 probable voters July 20-26. A University of North Florida poll indicated him up 5 points, 46 percent to 41 percent. It surveyed 848 probable voters July 8-17.

Prediction markets favor Donalds. He had an 83 percent chance of winning on both Kalshi and Polymarket on Wednesday afternoon.

Prediction markets allow traders to purchase and sell contracts tied to political outcomes and current events, aggregating real-money wagers into probability estimates. Rates fluctuate as traders react to polling, fundraising, candidate developments and broader political trends. They measure trader sentiment in the moment but do not always accurately predict the future.

J. Miles Coleman of Sabato's Crystal Ball wrote in a July 23 update that the race was shifting away from Safe Republican status after "some recent polling has shown the general election tighter than what our current Safe Republican rating would suggest."

"We would not call Florida truly competitive, " he wrote. "But an open seat and relatively close polling are enough to move this off Safe Republican and into Likely Republican."

Florida, once a premier battleground, has become increasingly tough for Democrats over the past decade. Trump carried it by 13 points in 2024, up from a 3-point victory in 2020 and a 1-point win in 2016. President Barack Obama won the state in 2008 and 2012.

While Democrats have struggled to remain competitive in statewide races, republicans have additionally expanded their voter registration advantage. As of July 31, there were 5, 607, 836 registered Republicans and 4, 066, 503 registered Democrats in Florida, with an extra 3, 327, 656 "no party affiliation" voters, according to the Florida Division of Elections. Democrats outnumbered Republicans as lately as 2020.

Meanwhile, a number of factors contributed to the realignment. While Democrats have struggled to counter GOP messaging in the state, republicans have created inroads among Latino voters, flipping traditionally Democratic areas, including Miami-Dade County.

Population expansion additionally played a role. Florida continued millions of new residents, numerous arriving from more conservative states during the COVID-19 pandemic. The GOP's growing edge was reflected at the ballot box, culminating in Republican Governor Ron DeSantis' landslide reelection in 2022.

Those victories allowed Republicans to enact a wave of conservative policies in the state that may additionally be a draw to Republican voters fleeing more progressive states like New York. Over the past a number of years, Florida enacted conservative‑leaning policies on education, voting, immigration and social matters.

DeSantis, a Republican, won his first election in 2018 by less than 1 percentage point against Democrat Andrew Gillum. He defeated Democratic former Governor Charlie Crist by almost 20 points in 2022. Contact Newsweek editors on this story: Jenna deJong and Dave Siminoff.

For now, who is Byron Donalds& #039; Wife, Erika? What We Know About Family remains the part of the story worth watching, and further updates are likely as more details are confirmed.