Byron Lowell Donalds (born October 28, 1978) is an American politician and financial analyst serving as the

U.S. representative The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Article One of th ...

for

Florida's 19th congressional district Florida's 19th congressional district is a List of United States congressional districts, U.S. congressional district in Southwest Florida. It includes the cities of Cape Coral, Florida, Cape Coral, Fort Myers, Florida, Fort Myers, Fort Myers Be ...

since 2021. A member of the Republican Party, he served in the

Florida House of Representatives The Florida House of Representatives is the lower house of the Florida Legislature, the State legislature (United States), state legislature of the U.S. state of Florida, the Florida Senate being the upper house. Article III, Section 1 of the C ...

from 2016 to 2020. His congressional district includes much of

Southwest Florida Southwest Florida is the region along the southwest Gulf coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The area is known for its beaches, subtropical landscape, and winter resort economy. Definitions of the region vary, though its boundaries are genera ...

. Born and raised in

Crown Heights, Brooklyn Crown Heights is a neighborhood in the central portion of the New York City borough (New York City), borough of Brooklyn. Crown Heights is bounded by Washington Avenue to the west, Atlantic Avenue (New York City), Atlantic Avenue to the north, ...

, Donalds attended

Florida A&M University Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University (FAMU), commonly known as Florida A&M, is a Public university, public Historically black colleges and universities, historically black land-grant university in Tallahassee, Florida, United States. ...

and earned a Bachelor of Science degree in finance and marketing from

Florida State University Florida State University (FSU or Florida State) is a Public university, public research university in Tallahassee, Florida, United States. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida and a preeminent university in the s ...

in 2002. Before entering politics, Donalds worked in the finance, insurance, and banking industries. Situated in the conservative wing of the Republican Party, Donalds was a member of the

Tea Party movement The Tea Party movement was an American fiscally conservative political movement within the Republican Party that began in 2007, catapulted into the mainstream by Congressman Ron Paul's presidential campaign. The movement expanded in resp ...

and unsuccessfully ran for the

U.S. House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Article One of th ...

in 2012. He represented the 80th district in the Florida House of Representatives from 2016 to 2020. Donalds was elected to Congress in

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

, defeating Democratic nominee Cindy Banyai. In January 2021, he voted to object to the certification of electors from Arizona and Pennsylvania in the 2020 presidential election. Donalds said that he did not "personally" believe that President

Joe Biden Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. (born November 20, 1942) is an American politician who was the 46th president of the United States from 2021 to 2025. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served as the 47th vice p ...

was a "legitimate" president of the United States, but that Biden was nevertheless the president. In the January 2023 Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives election, Donalds was nominated for the speakership in the fourth through 11th rounds of voting. Several months later, he was a candidate in the third nomination for the

October 2023 Speaker of the United States House of Representatives election On October 17, 2023, following the October 3 removal of Republican Kevin McCarthy as speaker of the House, members of the U.S. House of Representatives began the process of holding an intra-term election for speaker of the House. The election ...

. In Februrary 2025, Donalds announced his candidacy for

governor of Florida The governor of Florida is the head of government of the U.S. state of Florida. The Governor (United States), governor is the head of the Government of Florida#Executive branch, executive branch of the government of Florida and is the comman ...

2026 Predicted and scheduled events * January 1 – Bulgaria is expected to adopt the euro and become the 21st member state of the eurozone. * January 6 – The 2025 Jubilee will end on this day. * February 5 – The New START Treat ...

Early life and education

Donalds was born and raised in the

Crown Heights Crown Heights is a neighborhood in the central portion of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. Crown Heights is bounded by Washington Avenue to the west, Atlantic Avenue to the north, Ralph Avenue to the east, and Empire Boulevard to the so ...

neighborhood in the New York City

borough A borough is an administrative division in various English language, English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely. History ...

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

. One of three children, he was raised by his single mother. In 1996, Donalds graduated from Nazareth Regional High School in

East Flatbush East Flatbush is a residential neighborhood in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. East Flatbush is bounded by Crown Heights and Empire Boulevard to the north; Brownsville and East 98th Street to the east; Flatlands, Canarsie and the Lon ...

. Donalds is of Jamaican and Panamanian heritage. In 1997, Donalds was charged with

marijuana Cannabis (), commonly known as marijuana (), weed, pot, and ganja, List of slang names for cannabis, among other names, is a non-chemically uniform psychoactive drug from the ''Cannabis'' plant. Native to Central or South Asia, cannabis has ...

possession, but the charges were dropped as part of a pre-trial diversion program, and he was fined $150 (). In 2000, he pleaded

no contest ''Nolo contendere'' () is a type of legal plea used in some jurisdictions in the United States. It is also referred to as a plea of no contest or no defense. It is a plea where the defendant neither admits nor disputes a charge, serving as an ...

to a felony theft charge for allegedly attempting to defraud a bank (by depositing a bad check), but his record was later sealed and

expunged In the common law legal systems of the world, legal system, an expungement or expunction proceeding, is a type of lawsuit in which an individual who has been arrested for or convicted of a crime seeks that the records of that earlier process be Re ...

. According to an attorney consulted by the

fact-checking Fact-checking is the process of verifying the factual accuracy of questioned reporting and statements. Fact-checking can be conducted before or after the text or content is published or otherwise disseminated. Internal fact-checking is such che ...

site

PolitiFact PolitiFact.com is an American nonprofit project operated by the Poynter Institute in St. Petersburg, Florida, with offices there and in Washington, D.C. It began in 2007 as a project of the ''Tampa Bay Times'' (then the ''St. Petersburg Times ...

, "Donalds would not have been able to get his record expunged if the state considered him a convicted felon." Donalds attended

, subsequently transferring to

. In 2002, he graduated from FSU with a Bachelor of Science degree in finance and marketing.

Career

Donalds began his professional career in 2003 as a

credit analyst A credit analyst is a person employed by an organization to analyze the credit worthiness of customers and potential customers, and to assist in the ongoing management, classification and quantification of credit risk thereafter. See and for ...

at TIB Bank. He was promoted to senior credit analyst in 2004, and later promoted to commercial credit manager, assistant vice president, and credit manager. Donalds left TIB Bank in 2007 and took a position as a

portfolio manager A portfolio manager (PM) is a professional responsible for making investment decisions and carrying out investment activities on behalf of vested individuals or institutions. Clients invest their money into the PM's investment policy for future gr ...

at CMG Surety LLC. In 2015, he joined

Wells Fargo Advisors Wells Fargo Advisors is a subsidiary of Wells Fargo, located in St Louis, Missouri. It is the third largest brokerage firm in the United States as of June 30, 2021 with $1.9 trillion retail client assets under management In finance, assets u ...

as a

Financial Advisor A financial adviser or financial advisor is a professional who provides financial services to clients based on their financial situation. In many countries, financial advisors must complete specific training and be registered with a regulatory ...

. In 2010, Donalds left the Democratic Party and joined the Republican Party. After becoming involved in the

, he was encouraged to run for office. In 2012, Donalds was a candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives in

. He finished fifth of six candidates. In 2014, he was reported as a likely candidate for the U.S. House in

after

Trey Radel Henry Jude Radel III (born April 20, 1976) is an American radio personality, political commentator, author, actor, and former member of the United States House of Representatives. Radel’s show airs on the Florida-based station WFSX-FM, a Fox New ...

resigned, but did not run. Donalds was elected to the

in 2016. During his Florida House tenure, he chaired the Insurance and Banking Subcommittee.

U.S. House of Representatives

Elections

2020

Donalds was the Republican nominee for

in the 2020 election, running to succeed retiring incumbent

Francis Rooney Laurence Francis Rooney III (born December 4, 1953) is an American politician and diplomat who was a United States House of Representatives, U.S. representative for from 2017 to 2021. A Republican Party (United States), Republican, he served as t ...

. He won a crowded nine-way Republican primary by 770 votes over state representative Dane Eagle, finishing just over the threshold to avoid a recount. Republicans have a 550,000-voter advantage over Democrats in registration, and

Florida Gulf Coast University Florida Gulf Coast University (FGCU) is a public university in Lee County, Florida, near Fort Myers. It is part of the State University System of Florida and is its second-youngest member. The university was established on May 3, 1991, and is acc ...

professor Peter Bergerson noted that the Republican primary is almost always the real contest for most races in the area. In August 2020, anonymous text messages were sent out to constituents in the 19th district claiming that Donalds was dropping out of the race. Donalds later clarified via tweet that he was not dropping out and called the messages "illegal". During his campaign, Donalds described himself as a "

Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...

supporting, gun owning, liberty loving, pro-life, politically incorrect Black man." He stated his support for economic freedom, clean water, nuclear power and decreased government involvement in health care. He opposed the

Green New Deal The Green New Deal (GND) calls for public policy to address climate change, along with achieving other social aims like job creation, economic growth, and reducing economic inequality. The name refers to the New Deal, a set of changes and ...

. In the November general election, Donalds defeated Democratic nominee Cindy Banyai. Donalds said he would focus on policy related to water quality in

. Upon his swearing-in on January 3, 2021, Donalds became the sixth person to represent this district since its creation in 1983 (it had been the 13th District from 1983 to 1993, the 14th from 1993 to 2013, and has been the 19th since 2013).

Tenure in Congress

In late 2020, Donalds was identified as a participant in the "Freedom Force", a group of incoming House Republicans who "say they’re fighting against

socialism Socialism is an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes ...

in America". The following year Donalds was blocked from joining the

Congressional Black Caucus The Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) is made up of Black members of the United States Congress. Representative Yvette Clarke from New York, the current chairperson, succeeded Steven Horsford from Nevada in 2025. Although most members belong ...

2020 election

In January 2021, Donalds voted to object to the certification of electors from Arizona and Pennsylvania in the 2020 presidential election. Donalds has since claimed that

was not the legitimate president of the United States, a claim he repeated in a '' Vanity Fair'' interview in July 2023.

Agriculture

In March 2024, Donalds was one of ten House Republicans who signed a letter to the

House Agriculture Committee The United States House of Representatives Committee on Agriculture, or Agriculture Committee is a standing committee of the United States House of Representatives. The House Committee on Agriculture has general jurisdiction over federal agricul ...

opposing the inclusion of the Ending Agricultural Trade Suppression (EATS) Act or similar language in the 2024

farm bill In the United States, the farm bill is a comprehensive omnibus bill that is the primary agricultural and food policy instrument of the federal government. Congress typically passes a new farm bill every five to six years.Johnson, R. and Monke, ...

. The EATS Act would have preempted state and local laws regulating agricultural products sold across state lines, including

animal welfare Animal welfare is the quality of life and overall well-being of animals. Formal standards of animal welfare vary between contexts, but are debated mostly by animal welfare groups, legislators, and academics. Animal welfare science uses measures ...

laws like California's Proposition 12. However, the law likely would have favored big business over small, local farmers.

Iraq

In June 2021, Donalds was one of 49 House Republicans to vote to repeal the

Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Iraq Resolution of 2002 The Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Iraq Resolution of 2002,Joe Biden Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. (born November 20, 1942) is an American politician who was the 46th president of the United States from 2021 to 2025. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served as the 47th vice p ...

to remove U.S. troops from

Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...

within 180 days.

January 2023 Speaker of the House election

On January 3, 2023, Donalds received one vote in the

118th Congress The 118th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It convened in Washington, D.C., on January ...

's first

election An election is a formal group decision-making process whereby a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold Public administration, public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative d ...

for Speaker of the House, from

Chip Roy Charles Eugene "Chip" Roy (born August 7, 1972) is an American attorney and politician serving as the United States House of Representatives, U.S. representative for Texas's 21st congressional district. A member of the Republican Party (United ...

. Donalds voted for

Kevin McCarthy Kevin Owen McCarthy (born January 26, 1965) is an American politician who served as the List of speakers of the United States House of Representatives, 55th speaker of the United States House of Representatives from January until he was Remova ...

on the first two ballots, then for

Jim Jordan James Daniel Jordan (born February 17, 1964) is an American politician who has served in the U.S. House of Representatives as the representative for since 2007. He is a member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party. ...

on the third. On January 4, on the fourth ballot, Roy nominated Donalds for Speaker, and he received 20 votes. This marked the first time two Black lawmakers were nominated for Speaker, the other being Democratic nominee

Hakeem Jeffries Hakeem Sekou Jeffries ( ; born August 4, 1970) is an American politician and attorney who has served as Party leaders of the United States House of Representatives, House minority leader and House Democratic Caucus#Leaders of the House Democrati ...

. He was nominated by

Lauren Boebert Lauren Opal Boebert ( ; ; born December 19, 1986) is an American politician, businesswoman, and gun rights activist serving as the U.S. representative for beginning in 2025, having previously represented from 2021 to 2025. From 2013 to 202 ...

on the fifth ballot, and again received 20 votes. He was sequentially nominated by

Scott Perry Scott Gordon Perry (born May 27, 1962) is an American politician and retired Army National Guard brigadier general who is the U.S. representative for , serving since 2013. The district, numbered as from 2013 to 2019, is centered around Harrisb ...

Dan Bishop James Daniel Bishop (born July 1, 1964) is an American attorney and politician who has served as the Deputy Director of the Office of Management and Budget since 2025. He previously served as a U.S. representative from North Carolina from 201 ...

Andy Biggs Andrew Steven Biggs (born November 7, 1958) is an American lawyer and politician who represents in the United States House of Representatives. The district, which was once represented by U.S. Senators John McCain and Jeff Flake, is in the he ...

Matt Rosendale Matthew Martin Rosendale Sr. (born July 7, 1960) is an American politician and former real estate developer who represented Montana in the United States House of Representatives from 2021 to 2025. A member of the Republican Party, Rosendale ser ...

, and

Anna Paulina Luna Anna Paulina Luna (Birth name, née Mayerhofer, later Gamberzky; born May 6, 1989) is an American politician and United States Air Force, Air Force veteran serving as the U.S. representative for Florida's 13th congressional district since 2023. ...

on the sixth to tenth ballots. He was not nominated on the 11th ballot, but still received 12 votes. Donalds switched his vote back to McCarthy after House Republican leadership made many concessions to House Freedom Caucus members.

October 2023 candidacy for Speaker

Donalds was a candidate for

Speaker of the United States House of Representatives The speaker of the United States House of Representatives, commonly known as the speaker of the House or House speaker, is the Speaker (politics), presiding officer of the United States House of Representatives, the lower chamber of the United ...

in the October 2023 election.

Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023

Donalds was among the 71 Republicans who voted against final passage of the

Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023 On January 19, 2023, the United States hit its United States debt ceiling, debt ceiling, leading to a debt-ceiling crisis, part of an ongoing political debate within United States Congress, Congress about United States federal budget, federal ...

in the House.

Israel

Donalds voted to provide Israel with support following

2023 Hamas attack on Israel On October 7, 2023, Hamas and several other Palestinian militant groups launched coordinated armed incursions from the Gaza Strip into the Gaza envelope of southern Israel, the first invasion of Israeli territory since the 1948 Arab–Israeli ...

Jim Crow era

In a political outreach event in June 2024, Donalds opined as follows about the

Jim Crow The Jim Crow laws were state and local laws introduced in the Southern United States in the late 19th and early 20th centuries that enforced racial segregation, " Jim Crow" being a pejorative term for an African American. The last of the ...

era:

You see, during Jim Crow, the black family was together. During Jim Crow, more black people were not just conservative, black people have always been conservative-minded, but more black people voted conservatively. And then, HEW.,
Lyndon Johnson Lyndon Baines Johnson (; August 27, 1908January 22, 1973), also known as LBJ, was the 36th president of the United States, serving from 1963 to 1969. He became president after assassination of John F. Kennedy, the assassination of John F. Ken ...
, and then you go down that road, and now we are where we are. What's happened in America the last ten years, and I say it because it's my contemporaries…you're starting to see more black people be married in homes raising kids.

After some backlash against those remarks, Donalds denied “that Black people were doing better under Jim Crow” or that “Jim Crow is great”, and also denied having been inaccurate when he said that black marriage rates were relatively high during that era.

Immigration and Due Process

On May 5, 2025, Donalds appeared on

Meet the Press ''Meet the Press'' is a weekly American television Sunday morning talk show broadcast on NBC. It is the List of longest-running television shows by category, longest-running program on American television, though its format has changed since th ...

with

Kristen Welker Kristen Welker (born July 1, 1976) is an American television journalist working for NBC News. She serves as a White House correspondent based in Washington, D.C., and served as co-anchor of ''Weekend Today'', the Saturday edition of ''Today'', ...

. He stated categorically, “When it comes to due process, that is a privilege reserved for American citizens.”.

Veterans

Donalds voted against the

Honoring our PACT Act of 2022 The Sergeant First Class Heath Robinson Honoring our Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics Act of 2022, known as the Honoring our PACT Act of 2022, or even more colloquially as "the PACT Act," is an Act of Congress that authorized $797 billio ...

which expanded VA benefits to veterans exposed to toxic chemicals during their military service.

Democrats

A former Democrat, Donalds has questioned the direction of the " Democrat Party"; saying he believes they're leaving God out of the equation and "I think the issue for Democrats is their political views just differ, in my view, very greatly from what the

Bible The Bible is a collection of religious texts that are central to Christianity and Judaism, and esteemed in other Abrahamic religions such as Islam. The Bible is an anthology (a compilation of texts of a variety of forms) originally writt ...

says."

Committee assignments

For the

: *

Committee on Financial Services The United States House Committee on Financial Services, also referred to as the House Banking Committee and previously known as the Committee on Banking and Currency, is the United States congressional committee, committee of the United States ...

** Subcommittee on Digital Assets, Financial Technology and Inclusion ** Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Monetary Policy * Committee on Oversight and Accountability ** Subcommittee on Economic Growth, Energy Policy, and Regulatory Affairs ** Subcommittee on Government Operations and the Federal Workforce

Caucus memberships

Congressional Blockchain Caucus The Congressional Blockchain Caucus is a bipartisan group of U.S. Representatives and staff. The caucus was founded during the 114th United States Congress to be a platform for industry and government to study and understand blockchain technology, ...

Freedom Caucus The Freedom Caucus, also known as the House Freedom Caucus, is a congressional caucus consisting of Republican Party (United States), Republican members of the United States House of Representatives. It is generally considered to be the most Cons ...

Republican Study Committee The Republican Study Committee (RSC) is a congressional caucus of conservative members of the Republican Party in the United States House of Representatives. In November 2024, Representative August Pfluger was elected as the chair of the RSC, ...

Electoral history

2012

2016

2018

2020

2022

2024

Personal life

Byron Donalds married Bisa Hall on June 15, 1999. They divorced in 2002. Donalds married Erika Lees on March 15, 2003. They have three sons and live in

Naples, Florida Naples is a city in Collier County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 19,115, down from 19,539 at the 2010 census. Naples is a principal city of the Collier County, Florida, Naples–Marc ...

References

External links

Representative Byron Donalds
official U.S. House website *
Byron Donalds for Congress

Byron Donalds for Governor
* *
Florida House of Representatives - Byron Donalds
, - , - --> {{DEFAULTSORT:Donalds, Byron 1978 births 21st-century African-American politicians 21st-century members of the United States House of Representatives 21st-century members of the Florida Legislature African-American Christians African-American members of the United States House of Representatives African-American people in Florida politics African-American state legislators in Florida American politicians of Jamaican descent American politicians of Panamanian descent American Protestants Black conservatism in the United States Christians from Florida Florida A&M University alumni Florida Republicans Florida State University alumni Financial advisors Living people People from Naples, Florida Politicians from Brooklyn Republican Party members of the Florida House of Representatives Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Florida Tea Party movement activists

Early life and education

Career

U.S. House of Representatives

Elections

2020

Tenure in Congress

2020 election

Agriculture

Iraq

January 2023 Speaker of the House election

October 2023 candidacy for Speaker

Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023

Israel

Jim Crow era

Immigration and Due Process

Veterans

Democrats

Committee assignments

Caucus memberships

Electoral history

2012

2016

2018

2020

2022

2024

Personal life

See also

References

External links