Dayna Marie Foster spent the 2025-2026 school year teaching math at Fort Lauderdale High School, the same campus where she once sat as a student. On June 30, 2026, she walked away from the classroom for good, and now the 32-year-old is running for Florida governor as a Democrat, telling supporters she could not turn a blind eye to what students and families were experiencing.
Foster qualified for the 2026 Democratic gubernatorial primary ballot on June 10, 2026, according to Florida Division of Elections records, after first filing candidate intent documents in August 2025. She is one of roughly half a dozen Democrats on the primary ballot ahead of the August 18 election, as reported by the Miami Herald. Her platform centers on removing censorship from schools, increasing funding for public education, and raising pay for Florida teachers.
A Classroom Career Cut Short by Restrictions
Florida teachers face restrictions on what they can say both inside and outside the classroom, and the Herald's reporting details how educators like Foster describe walking on eggshells over the political climate in schools. One student, 18-year-old Fort Lauderdale High graduate Samantha Allie, who has dyscalculia, was taught by Foster in junior-year math and has spoken about the experience as her former teacher moved from the classroom into a statewide campaign.
The pressures Foster describes are not abstract. In Clay County, ESE teacher Kelly Brock-Sanchez was suspended in September 2025 and filed a federal lawsuit in January 2026 after facing termination over private Facebook comments about conservative activist Charlie Kirk following his death, according to WLRN. State education officials have warned teachers they could face license reviews over online posts, and under current policy, Florida teachers can be fired or punished for criticizing Kirk after his assassination.
The dispute has spread beyond K-12 classrooms. In July 2026, former South Florida State College English professor Vinita Prabhakar filed a federal First Amendment lawsuit against college President Fred Hawkins after being fired for assigning an award-winning short story about sex in a freshman course, according to FIRE.org. The college president reportedly called the assigned literature political after a student expressed mild discomfort.
Targeting the Phoenix Declaration and ICE Agreements
Foster has pledged to remove members of the Florida State Board of Education who voted to adopt the Heritage Foundation's Phoenix Declaration, a set of guiding principles for public education the board approved unanimously on November 13, 2025. Florida became the first state in the nation to formally adopt the framework, per the state's own announcement, and Foster has made dismantling it a central campaign promise. The Florida Department of Education did not respond to a request for comment from the Herald.
Foster also plans to terminate all 287(g) agreements between Florida state agencies and Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Florida currently leads the nation in local immigration enforcement partnerships, with 272 of 394 local law enforcement agencies holding ICE 287(g) task force officer agreements as of July 2026, according to WUSF. State law currently mandates that county sheriffs cooperate with federal immigration authorities.
Teacher Vacancies and a Bottom-Ranked Paycheck
Foster's push to fully fund public education and expand teacher pay lands against a backdrop of chronic staffing shortages. The Florida Education Association reported 2,363 public school teacher vacancies statewide midway through the 2025-2026 school year, up from 2,260 counted in August 2025, though the state department of education has disputed the union's methodology, arguing overall vacancies declined over a two-year period. A separate FEA report from August 2025 found Florida ranked 50th in the nation for average teacher salary as districts navigated budget cuts and roughly $4 billion diverted toward private school vouchers.
State Senator Shevrin Jones, a Democrat who entered office in 2012 and is himself a former chemistry teacher, has said teachers now look over their shoulders and some no longer want to remain in classrooms. Jones, who is running for Florida's 24th congressional district, has said teachers' patience and compassion make them strong candidates for public office.
A Grassroots Bid Against Well-Funded Rivals
Foster's path to the nomination faces steep financial headwinds. Democratic primary frontrunner David Jolly, a former Republican congressman who changed his party affiliation to Democratic, received nearly $1.3 million in state matching funds in July 2026 after raising $4.08 million, according to WGCU News. Republican frontrunner Byron Donalds raised $10.3 million and collected $662,400 in matching funds over the same period. Foster's campaign, by comparison, has raised roughly $13,000.
The Democratic field has shifted repeatedly this year. State Representative Dotie Joseph crashed the governor race in June 2026 shortly after Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings suspended his campaign following a medical diagnosis. Jolly, who named Gwen Graham as his running mate, unveiled a proposal in July to raise Florida teacher salaries by roughly 30% over 10 years by redirecting local tourist-development tax revenues to schools, a plan he pitched at the Florida PTA leadership convention alongside Donalds. Pollsters expect Jolly and Donalds to face off in the general election come November.
From FAU Finance Degree to State Library Job
Foster was born in New York and moved to South Florida in second grade. She began working at the Broward County library's African American Research Library and Cultural Center at age 19, and she went on to earn a bachelor's degree in finance from Florida Atlantic University, along with master's degrees in information from Florida State University and finance from Florida International University. She later earned a bachelor's degree in political science from Florida State University after the 2024 elections.
Foster has built a following of 64,000 on TikTok, and Florida's Democratic Progressive Caucus endorsed her candidacy Thursday. She has said her campaign represents the people's voice and has vowed to remain in politics regardless of the election's outcome. Her broader platform also includes taxing the ultra wealthy, expanding Florida Medicaid, subsidizing affordable housing construction, and building houses on public land.
The state's rejection of an AP African American History course in 2023, implemented under Governor Ron DeSantis's anti-woke agenda, remains part of the backdrop Foster cites when describing why she left teaching. Whether her grassroots campaign can gain traction against better-funded rivals remains to be seen, but Foster has framed her run less as a long shot and more as a continuation of the classroom fight she says she was forced to leave behind.
