Forty rabbis spread across 17 Florida cities and seven counties have put their names behind Republican Congressman Byron Donalds in his bid for governor, signing an open letter released less than three weeks before the November 3 election. The signatories represent Jewish congregations and communities stretching from Aventura and Boca Raton to Tallahassee and Tampa, and the campaign is framing the show of support as evidence of broad, faith-based backing from across the state.
The letter was reported by the Tampa Free Press, which detailed the full roster of signers and noted that the Donalds campaign announced the endorsement in Naples. Bryan E. Leib, a surrogate for the campaign, said simply that 40 rabbis agreed to support Donalds and that the letter's signers came from every corner of Florida. Leib added that Jewish families believe Donalds will keep them safe, protect educational choice, and fight antisemitism, according to the same report.
Lisa Spies, the Donalds campaign's director of Jewish outreach, said respected Florida rabbinic leaders united because they understood what was at stake, and that Donalds stood with the Jewish community and Israel when it mattered most. Spies said Florida's Jewish community is proud to support Donalds, per the Tampa Free Press report. In their own letter, the rabbis said Florida allows Jewish families to build lives, practice their faith, and raise children without constant fear, and that they look forward to working to keep the state strong, safe, and welcoming.
Who Signed, And Where They're From
The named signatories span a wide geographic footprint. Aventura's list includes Yaakov Bengio, Levy Forta, Yosef Galimid, Moshe Matz, David Nesenoff and Mendel Rosenfeld, while Boca Raton's signers include Josh Broide, Yaakov Gibber, Mayer Kotlarsky, Dovid Leib Shur and Perry Tirschwell. Cooper City's letter carries the names of Pinny Andrusier and Tzvi Freund, Delray Beach is represented by Jack Engel, and Fort Lauderdale's signatories include Chaim Albert, Ariel Edry, Chaim Slavaticki and Pinchas Taylor.
Further south and north, Golden Beach's Chai Amar signed on, as did a half-dozen Hollywood-area rabbis — Yisroel Davis, Yaacov Laredo, Oren Levy, Moshe B. Parnes, Eliezer Rubin and Ezra Sharbani. Lauderhill's Daniel Shahino, Miami Beach's Daniel Hadar, Yisroel Janowski and Shlomo Stilerman, and North Miami Beach's Daniel Gross and Yaakov Homnick round out the South Florida contingent. Okeechobee's Yakov Yoseph Moskowitz, Palm Beach's Moshe Scheiner and Leibel Shmotkin, Ponte Vedra Beach's Nochum Kurinsky, Sunny Isles Beach's Abraham Azancot, Surfside's Zalman Lipskar and Yair Massri, Tallahassee's Schneur Z. Oirechman, and Tampa's Eliezer Rivkin complete the list reported by the Tampa Free Press.
Donalds' Record On Israel And Jewish Issues
According to the rabbis' letter, the signers cited Donalds' policy platform and legislative record on campus safety, school choice, and Israel foreign policy as reasons for their support. The letter also referenced Donalds' pledge that Florida residents' safety is non-negotiable, and the rabbis credited his work in the Florida legislature expanding state scholarship programs, which help Jewish families afford faith-based schooling.
Donalds has made Jewish outreach a recurring theme of his campaign. He visited the Lubavitch Educational Center and met with 50 rabbis, community activists, and representatives of the South Florida Jewish community and its schools, according to the Lubavitch Educational Center, where he said he was committed to expanding access to quality education and continuing to fight antisemitism, especially on college campuses. He also told Jewish Florida Atlantic University students at a Delray Beach town hall that antisemitism would never be tolerated on college campuses, per the Tampa Free Press account.
His comments on Israel date back further. At an April 2025 town hall, Donalds said the United States should stand behind Israel, telling the crowd, “We should stand behind Israel 100%. I stand by our ally, which is Israel,” according to NBC News. The rabbis' letter separately noted that Donalds backed Israel during the 2021 Hamas rocket attacks, and he has said Florida will always stand with Jewish people on the third anniversary of the October 7 attacks.
A Primary Rival Holds Back
Not every Republican is lining up behind Donalds. James Fishback, who lost the GOP gubernatorial primary to Donalds, said this week that he is withholding his endorsement, writing, “Today, I am witholding my endorsement of Byron Donalds,” according to The Floridian.
Where The Race Stands In The Polls
Donalds is seeking to become Florida's 47th governor, running against Democrat David Jolly in a race that recent surveys show leaning his way. A Stetson University poll conducted October 1-9 found Donalds leading Jolly 52% to 41% among modeled likely voters, with about 5% undecided and another 3% backing a different candidate, according to Stetson University. The same survey of 826 Florida adults, including 716 registered voters, found no meaningful change in the governor's race from its September estimates, and identified cost of living and inflation as the leading voter concern, cited by 40% of likely voters.
Other polls show a tighter margin. An NBC South Florida/Telemundo Station Group survey of 625 likely voters put Donalds at 48% to Jolly's 41%, with a margin of error of plus or minus four percentage points, per NBC News. A Mason-Dixon poll of 625 likely voters conducted in late September and early October found the same 48%-41% spread, as reported by NBC 6 South Florida. CBS12 calculated a four-poll average showing Donalds ahead 48.0% to 43.3%, while an individual St. Pete Polls survey it cited showed a 45%-45% tie.
