David Jolly, the Democratic nominee for Florida governor, says he would issue an immediate moratorium on data centers on his very first day in office and reopen the state's investigation into the $10 million Hope Florida Medicaid scandal. With 51 days until Election Day, Jolly is framing his campaign against Republican nominee Byron Donalds as a moderate push for accountability after nearly three decades of GOP control in Tallahassee.
Jolly, a former Republican congressman who represented Florida's 13th congressional district from 2014 to 2017, laid out his positions in an interview with CBS News Miami, according to biographical records compiled by Ballotpedia. He won the Democratic gubernatorial primary on August 18, and Republicans have won every Florida gubernatorial race since 1998 — making Jolly's bid, like Charlie Crist's in 2022, another attempt by a former Republican to lead the Democratic ticket, per election data compiled by Ballotpedia and Wikipedia.
Jolly Wants a New Look at the Hope Florida Money Trail
A grand jury found that the DeSantis administration misappropriated $10 million from a Medicaid settlement that was intended for needy children, and Jolly said additional evidence gathering would benefit the case and Florida voters. He argued the original investigation was not an impartial way to establish the facts, and said the grand jury report itself showed a lack of cooperation from those involved.
A sealed Leon County grand jury report obtained by CBS News revealed the $10 million transfer originated from a $67 million Medicaid overbilling settlement Florida reached with Centene Corp in 2024, with $8.5 million eventually flowing through non-profits into political action committees that opposed the state's 2024 recreational marijuana initiative, Amendment 3. The Tampa Bay Times reported that jurors declined to issue criminal indictments because state officials and witnesses refused to take responsibility or claim memory of who authorized directing the settlement funds to the Hope Florida charity — jurors expressed frustration that nearly every witness involved was an attorney or acting on legal advice, creating an evidentiary roadblock.
PBS News reported that the grand jury identified current Attorney General James Uthmeier — who served as Governor Ron DeSantis' chief of staff during the settlement — as having authority over those involved in resolving the case, and noted that his political committee, Keep Florida Clean, was the prime recipient of the diverted funds. Uthmeier took office after Ashley Moody was appointed to the U.S. Senate. Jolly has endorsed Jose Javier Rodriguez, a candidate in the upcoming attorney general race.
The calls for scrutiny have moved beyond the campaign trail. A formal demand letter has called on the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Inspector General to launch a federal investigation into the misappropriation of the Medicaid settlement funds.
A Day-One Freeze on Data Centers
On the campaign's second major flashpoint, Jolly said he opposes data centers in Florida and plans to issue an immediate moratorium on them on his first day as governor. He said the facilities destabilize communities, devalue real estate, carry environmental impacts, pose public health concerns, and lack a long-term economic benefit for the state.
Jolly's stance lands amid a broader wave of local pushback. At least eight Florida counties and several municipalities — including Lake County, Sarasota County, DeSoto County, and Titusville — have enacted or proposed moratoriums or outright bans on large-scale AI data centers over concerns about water usage and power grid stability, according to local government records. Lake County passed a 90-day moratorium on September 8, while Sarasota County approved a one-year freeze on facilities consuming more than 50 megawatts.
That local activity follows Governor DeSantis signing Senate Bill 484 into law, effective July 1, which requires large-scale data centers to pay the full cost of their electric service, restricts water permitting, bans agency non-disclosure agreements, and explicitly preserves local zoning authority over facility placement. The bill passed the Florida Senate unanimously earlier in the year, according to WKMG ClickOrlando.
Donalds Counters With Off-Grid Mandate, Not a Ban
Jolly's Republican opponent has staked out the opposite approach. In July, Donalds introduced federal legislation called the 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 rather than drawing from public infrastructure, according to Florida Politics. Donalds has pointed to off-grid power generation, small modular nuclear reactors, and closed-loop water filtration as alternatives to a blanket ban.
At a campaign stop at the University of Central Florida on September 10, Donalds defended the state's current data center law, emphasizing that local communities should retain final approval over facilities while the state focuses on ensuring energy companies do not raise residential utility rates — remarks he made while fielding student questions on data centers and other issues.
The campaign season has also included a dispute over whether Donalds skipped a scheduled joint appearance before the Tampa Tiger Bay Club. Jolly's data center position and his push to reopen the Hope Florida case reflect a broader strategy of courting moderate and independent voters in a state where the governorship has stayed in Republican hands since 1998.
