David Jolly made the rounds of state and national media last month to announce he would run for Florida governor in 2026. Whether the 52-year-old, former congress member from Pinellas County can win is anybody’s guess. But he is clear-eyed about the hurdles and comfortably armed with a sensible agenda. He will certainly test the voters’ appetite for seriousness and civility.

Jolly was a longtime aide to the late Republican U.S. Rep. C.W. Bill Young of Pinellas before eventually winning election to Young’s seat after his former boss’ death in 2013. Jolly lost the seat nearly three years later to Charlie Crist, a former Republican governor running as a Democrat, after the district was redrawn to tilt Democratic. By then, Jolly had soured on Donald Trump’s makeover of the Republican Part

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