Donalds Set to Name Running Mate at Miami's Freedom Tower, Eyes South Florida Ticket

Byron Donalds is set to announce his running mate Tuesday at the Freedom Tower in downtown Miami, and speculation is mounting that the Republican gubernatorial nominee will tap a Miami-Dade lawmaker to shore up support in Florida's most populous county. The event is formally billed as a major announcement, and Donalds' campaign has declined to comment on how it arrived at its pick, leaving political watchers to parse the guest list and the symbolism of the venue itself.

Donalds captured 47.8% of the vote statewide in the August 18 Republican primary, according to CBS News, defeating Jay Collins, who finished second with 25.2% in a 10-candidate field. Per the Miami Herald, Donalds captured 48% of Republican voters statewide but 58% of Republican voters in Miami-Dade County, and he still failed to carry 17 Florida counties outright. Donalds has represented Florida's 19th Congressional District on the Gulf Coast, covering Naples, Fort Myers and Cape Coral, since 2021, following four years in the Florida House and nearly two decades in banking and finance, according to the U.S. House of Representatives. He is endorsed by Donald Trump.

Why the Freedom Tower, and Why Miami

The Freedom Tower has long carried outsized symbolic weight in South Florida politics. The building served as headquarters for The Miami News before operating as a federal processing center for Cuban refugees from 1962 to 1974, and it reopened to the public in autumn 2025 following a $25 million, two-year restoration funded by state and private grants to mark its centennial, according to Local 10 News. The Herald's reporting describes it plainly as a former asylum center for Cuban refugees and a current museum dedicated to Cuban history — a backdrop unlikely to be an accident for a campaign courting Miami-Dade's electorate.

Miami-Dade has more voters than any other Florida county, the Herald notes, and the political ground there has shifted dramatically in Republicans' favor. Registered Republicans surpassed registered Democrats in the county for the first time in modern history in May 2025, and that GOP lead had grown to roughly 455,470 Republicans versus 407,910 Democrats by August 2026, per the same account. Ron DeSantis won Miami-Dade by more than 11% in 2022, and Donald Trump carried the county by 12 points over Kamala Harris in 2024.

The Shortlist: Avila and Rodriguez

Donalds has had a lieutenant governor shortlist circulating for weeks, and two Miami-Dade state senators sit at the top of it. Bryan Avila, 42, is a Florida Army National Guard veteran who touts a designation as the most conservative member of the legislature in 2024 and has represented Cuban-majority Miami communities in both the Florida House and Senate. Avila sponsored the legislation that placed a constitutional amendment to cut property taxes on November's ballot, proposing to expand homestead tax exemptions up to $250,000 by 2028, according to WLRN.

Ana Maria Rodriguez, 49, is a former lobbyist, Doral councilwoman and state representative who represents southwest Miami-Dade, the Florida Keys and part of Monroe County in the state Senate, a district she has served since 2018, per the Florida Senate. Rodriguez told the Herald she is honored and humbled that Donalds would consider her for lieutenant governor, adding that she is happy serving in the Florida Senate and will help Donalds in whatever capacity is needed.

Other Names in the Mix

The shortlist reportedly extends beyond Miami-Dade's two senators. Kat Cammack and Meg Weinberger, who led the initiative to rename Palm Beach International Airport after Donald Trump, are also described as potential running mates. Weinberger told the Herald her focus is serving her district and helping Donalds win in November.

State Rep. Juan Carlos Porras discussed the lieutenant governor position with Donalds' campaign but, at 29 years old, is too young to serve under Florida law. Article IV, Section 5 of the Florida Constitution requires candidates for governor and lieutenant governor to be at least 30 years old, registered electors, and state residents for at least seven consecutive years, according to Ballotpedia. Porras said a Miami running mate would connect Donalds' campaign to Miami voters, and he added that either Avila or Rodriguez would be phenomenal choices.

What a Miami Pick Would Signal

Political scientist Kevin Cooper said the event location itself indicates Miami's value to the campaign, and that a Miami running mate would understand the city's culture and business community. Cooper added that a Miami-based lieutenant governor candidate would signal Miami's importance to the ticket rather than any weakness for Donalds in Miami-Dade. Sean Freeder said earlier this month that the Trump coalition among younger people, younger men and South Florida's Cuban population has substantially fallen apart, a dynamic that adds pressure on Donalds to lock down the county's conservative base heading into November.

Florida Statute § 99.061 requires gubernatorial candidates to formally designate a lieutenant governor candidate with the Department of State so the pair can appear jointly on the ballot, treating the governor and lieutenant governor as a single ticket for campaign finance and ballot placement purposes. Donalds plans to travel with his special guest to Sanford in the early afternoon and St. Petersburg in the evening after the Miami event, according to the Herald's reporting.

The Democratic Ticket Donalds Will Face

David Jolly won the Democratic nomination for Florida governor and selected former Democratic Congresswoman Gwen Graham, daughter of former Florida Gov. Bob Graham, as his running mate, announcing the pairing in Tallahassee in June. Jolly served as a Republican U.S. Representative for Pinellas County from 2014 to 2017 before leaving the GOP in 2018 and officially registering as a Democrat in 2025, according to Newsweek. That contrast — a former Republican congressman turned Democrat pairing with a Graham family scion — sets up a general election matchup that will test whether Donalds' Miami-Dade gains hold through November.

The Freedom Tower announcement also arrives amid a separate, ongoing controversy in the same downtown Miami corridor. A 2.6-acre parcel adjacent to the Freedom Tower was transferred to the Donald J. Trump Presidential Library Foundation in late 2025 for a proposed waterfront library, a deal that has drawn Sunshine Law litigation over the use of public college property, as Hoodline previously reported. Donalds' choice of venue places his ticket announcement squarely within that contested political landscape, even as the campaign keeps its running-mate deliberations under wraps until Tuesday's event.