Pro-Israel Republicans defeated a pair of alt-right candidates accused of antisemitism in Florida’s primary elections on Tuesday in races for the House and governor.
Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.) won the Republican gubernatorial primary to succeed Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican who is term-limited.
With 87% of votes counted at press time, Donalds had 762,364 (48.3%), trouncing James Fishback, a 31-year-old investor who courted the “groyper” movement associated with the Holocaust denier Nick Fuentes, who came in third with 163,261 (10.4%) of the vote. Lt. Gov. Jay Collins came in second with 393,248 votes (24.9%).
The Associated Press called the race for Donalds about an hour after polls closed.
Fishback has said that he does not hold animus against Jews, but ran a campaign defined by his opposition to Israel and frequent race-baiting of Donalds, who is black.
He pledged that as governor he would divest state funds from Israel; called the University of Central Florida’s cafeteria food “goyslop;” signed a “contract with Florida” that he would reject money from the pro-Israel group AIPAC; and frequently referred to Donalds as “By’rone” in an apparent effort to make his name sound more black.
Donalds is staunchly pro-Israel and has previously described the Jewish state as America’s closest ally in the region.
In November, he will face off against David Jolly, a former Republican congressman, who won the Democratic primary.
In Republican House races, Rep. Randy Fine (R-Fla.), who is Jewish, defeated Dan Bilzerian, an influencer with 29 million followers on Instagram, who ran an explicitly antisemitic primary challenge and has previously denied the Holocaust.
With 87% of votes counted at press time, Fine had 42,898 votes (56.8%) to Bilzerian’s 13,816 (18.3%).
An AI-generated video Bilzerian posted on Thursday asked “should we revisit that Austrian painter’s opinions” over an image of Adolf Hitler and included footage of Fine wearing a yarmulke and growing horns.
The video drew condemnation from Republicans, Democrats and Jewish groups.
The Republican Jewish Coalition congratulated Fine for defeating a “neo-Nazi” and Donalds for winning against “one of the most openly bigoted campaigns in recent memory.”
“James Fishback spent this race trafficking in vile racism and antisemitic filth,” stated Matt Brooks, CEO of the coalition. “He peddled antisemitic conspiracy tropes to his supporters while courting the endorsement and praise of white nationalist Nick Fuentes.”
“Dan Bilzerian did not merely flirt with antisemitism. He made Jew-hatred the entire premise of his campaign,” Brooks said. “Tonight, the Republican voters of Florida’s 6th District stood up to this fanatic and buried Bilzerian’s hateful campaign in the dustbin of history where it belongs.”
