Congressman Byron Donalds sat down with the University of Central Florida's Turning Point USA chapter Thursday for a question-and-answer session that doubled as a somber marker: one year since the assassination of the organization's co-founder, Charlie Kirk. Students at the Orange County campus pressed the Republican gubernatorial nominee on housing costs, data centers, surveillance cameras and abortion, offering a glimpse of what matters most to young conservative voters heading into November.
The gathering, hosted by the UCF Turning Point USA chapter, marked the anniversary of Kirk's killing, which happened on September 10, 2025, during an outdoor event at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah. Suspect Tyler James Robinson pleaded not guilty to aggravated murder charges in early October 2026, after a judge's decision the previous week, according to WVEC, and prosecutors are seeking the death penalty. As WESH 2 reports, Kyle Christy, president of the UCF Turning Point USA chapter, said young voters want Florida to be a state for young people rather than a retirement home.
Housing Costs Top of Mind for Students
UCF junior Jasmine Stewart, who did not support Donalds during the Republican primary, told the station that being able to buy a first home is a major issue for her. She said she hopes Donalds will help drive down the cost of homes, and despite skipping him in the primary, she said she would choose him over his Democratic opponent in November.
Housing affordability sits alongside data centers, Flock cameras and taxation as issues young conservatives at UCF said they care about, per the same WESH 2 report. Donalds said at the event that he wants to keep Florida's data center law in place, a law that gives local governments final approval over whether a data center will be built and was signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis.
State Law Meets Local Pushback on Data Centers
That law, Florida Senate Bill 484, took effect July 1, preserving local zoning control over large-scale data centers while directing the Public Service Commission to ensure high-capacity facilities cover their own utility costs rather than shifting the burden to general ratepayers, according to the Florida Senate. Communities have moved quickly to use that reserved authority: the Lake County Commission approved a unanimous 90-day moratorium on September 8, and Miami Lakes has proposed its own prohibition on dedicated data centers, as detailed by Florida Politics. The report described 75 delayed or blocked projects nationwide and more than a dozen Florida counties with moratoriums or bans.
Donalds has staked out a related position at the federal level. During his primary campaign last month, he highlighted his Protecting Ratepayers Act, which would require commercial data centers consuming five megawatts or more of electricity to generate their own off-grid power and water supply, a policy Hoodline detailed in its coverage of Donalds' primary campaign stops in Palm Beach and St. Lucie.
Flock Cameras Draw Student Scrutiny
Privacy concerns tied to Flock Safety-style license plate readers were another flashpoint students raised, per WESH 2. Those concerns follow an August 31 operational memorandum from the Florida Department of Transportation revoking all local law enforcement permits for automated license plate readers installed on state highway rights-of-way, ordering their removal within 30 days over surveillance and misuse worries, as reported by Police1.
The removal order came after DeSantis approved funding through the State Board of Immigration Enforcement for hundreds of cameras, according to WLRN Public Media. The sequence highlights a tension between state funding for immigration enforcement tools and a subsequent statewide privacy crackdown.
Abortion Remains a Dividing Line
Stewart told WESH 2 she is concerned about abortion, and Donalds said at the UCF event that he wants to keep Florida's Heartbeat Protection Act on the books while also educating mothers about their options. Donalds identifies as pro-life, the station noted. The Heartbeat Protection Act took effect May 1, 2024, banning most abortions after six weeks of gestation, but the cited coverage did not address whether it remained state law after Amendment 4 or the amendment's vote. The cited coverage also did not describe the law's exceptions.
A Tight Race Heading Into November
Donalds will face Democratic nominee David Jolly in the November 3 general election, after winning the Republican nomination, according to coverage of the race. Term-limited Gov. Ron DeSantis cannot run for a third consecutive term, setting up an open contest between the two nominees.
While Donalds spent Thursday at UCF, Jolly made a campaign stop in south Florida the same afternoon, meeting with customers and employees at a family-owned restaurant in Broward County, according to WESH 2. A statewide Change Research poll conducted September 7 through 9 showed Jolly leading Donalds 47% to 44% among likely Florida voters, based on a survey of 1,107 likely midterm voters. The dossier notes that while young conservative voters at UCF expressed overall alignment with the GOP ticket, local cost-of-living concerns and privacy regulations remain critical factors shaping their engagement heading into the fall.
