Florida Professional Firefighters Endorse Congressman Byron Donalds for Governor

Tallahassee, FL — Consolidating key public safety labor support ahead of the November general election, the Florida Professional Firefighters (FPF) officially announced its statewide endorsement of Republican gubernatorial nominee U.S. Representative Byron Donalds, according to union leadership disclosures and reporting by Florida’s Voice.

The FPF, representing more than 32,000 municipal and county firefighters, emergency medical technicians, and paramedic personnel across Florida, based its endorsement on Donalds’ legislative commitments regarding public safety capital investments, first responder retirement protections, workers' compensation cancer presumptions, and expanded mental health resources for emergency services personnel.

Donalds, who secured the Republican nomination in August alongside his lieutenant governor running mate State Senator Bryan Ávila, welcomed the union's backing. The campaign emphasized its platform of modernizing county emergency operations centers, expanding vocational training pipelines for fire rescue recruits, and protecting statutory municipal pension frameworks for emergency personnel across Miami-Dade, Orange, Hillsborough, and Duval counties.

The endorsement adds significant labor momentum to Donalds’ general election matchup against Democratic nominee and former Congressman David Jolly. Jolly’s campaign has actively courted municipal public sector workers, advocating for increased state revenue sharing with county governments to increase base salaries for paramedics and expand affordable workforce housing reserves in high-cost coastal markets.

Political strategists in Tallahassee observe that first-responder labor endorsements carry substantial persuasive influence across Florida’s suburban swing precincts. The backing of the state's largest firefighter federation underscores Donalds’ strategy of uniting conservative grassroots voters with institutional public safety coalitions heading into the autumn campaign.

With both statewide campaigns expanding regional field offices and preparing for televised gubernatorial debates, the endorsement highlights the pivotal role of emergency services infrastructure and state budget priorities in Florida’s executive race to succeed term-limited Governor Ron DeSantis.