JD Vance rallies Republicans in Florida: backing for Byron Donalds and Ashley Moody 33 days before the midterms

U.S. Vice President JD Vance held his first political rally in Florida on Thursday, calling on Republican voters to back gubernatorial candidate Byron Donalds and Senate candidate Ashley Moody, 33 days before the November 3 midterm elections.

The rally was held at the Skylight Hangar on the Sun ’n Fun expo campus in Lakeland, as The Ledger, part of the USA Today Network-Florida, reports. Vance emphasized the choice that, in his words, Floridians face: “This is the choice the good people of Florida face next month: whether or not we continue to fight fraud and put Americans first, whether we return to failed policies of Joe Biden and Kamela Harris, whether we return our country to the far-left radicals who would rather burn it all down.” He praised the large turnout — some supporters watched the rally on screens outside the hangar — saying it was “abundantly clear Florida is MAGA country”.

The rally came a week after a St. Pete Polls survey for Florida Politics showed Donalds and Democrat David Jolly in a tight race: 44% to 43% among likely voters.

Vance praised Moody for her fight against crime during her six years as Florida’s attorney general and credited her with the “fight for food transparency” alongside Governor Ron DeSantis’s Healthy Florida First initiative. For her part, Moody called her Democratic opponent Angie Nixon — who recently joined the Democratic Socialists of America — “a cancer” and described Congress as “the swamp I’m trying to clean up for you”.

A protester who interrupted Vance’s speech was quickly escorted out by police; Vance dismissed him as “a plant from the Democrats”. The same protester had earlier confronted Donalds over data centers and energy policy. A second protester was removed after Vance raised the issue of Florida’s high home insurance premiums.

Vance called Donalds “a strong fighter” for Florida, while Moody hailed him as “the next governor of Florida”. Donalds promised to cut insurance premiums by 20%, backed Amendment 3 — which raises the Homestead exemption from $50,000 to $150,000 in 2027 and to $250,000 in 2028 — called for price transparency in health care and vowed to use the state Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to audit local and state agencies: “It’s your money and you deserve to know how it’s being spent.”