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On Thursday, Sept. 3, Byron Donalds, the Republican nominee for Florida governor, stopped into Born & Bread Bakehouse on South Florida Ave. to greet a few dozen quietly assembled supporters and shake hands with local patrons.
Donalds arrived at the bakery a little after 12:30 p.m., accompanied by his campaign team. He spent over an hour taking photos and talking with patrons during an event that was organized in advance with the business.
Jenn Smurr, owner of Born & Bread, confirmed that the campaign reached out weeks before to coordinate. Smurr said that while she is not politically affiliated, she was happy to host the candidate.
One on one with Donalds
“If you’re going to campaign for a state not just as big as Florida, as diverse as Florida, you have to be everywhere,” Donalds said when asked why he chose to come to Lakeland.
In a one-on-one with LkldNow, Donalds said the issues he’s hearing most from local voters are about infrastructure and growth.
“All across the state here, it’s probably more, ‘How do we manage growth or slow down growth? What are we going to do about infrastructure?’” he said.
He said he supports Amendment 3, “but whether it passes or fails, we’re going to use the Tax and Budget Reform Commission next year to do a deep, detailed dive into all taxes and fees reform.”
Donalds also mentioned insurance rates as top of mind for many voters. He said, “Insurance is the tie that binds everybody.”
Backing data centers
Donalds, who has been broadly supportive of data center development, said he’s hearing a lot from voters about the issue.
“Some people are very passionate about it and engaged in it. Some people are very fearful and concerned about it. Some people just want to know,” Donalds said.
He has received millions in campaign contributions and support from tech and AI companies, according to reporting from Suncoast Searchlight.
Asked about Lakeland’s recent moratorium on data center proposals, Donalds said, “If local governments and communities decide they don’t want a data center, then they will not have a data center. It’s a decision that local government and community members are going to make. It is state law in Florida that we are not going to revamp local governments, and we’re going to enforce that law and keep that law.”
Managing growth
Donalds is promising a differentiated approach to growth, working with local agencies to develop regional growth management plans.
“We want to work with local governments to try to find not just common ground but really best management practices for the future of Florida, its growth, its water resources. How do we make sure we have them and they’re plentiful for residents today and residents into the future?” Donalds said.
“We can’t stop people from coming to our state. We can’t stop people from going to buy homes or opening up businesses in Florida,” he said. “What we can do is have a strategy to manage that so we maintain quality of life.”
Among those who came out to greet Donalds were Kate Wallace, currently running for Polk County School Board District 3, Sam Neelam, Florida Poly trustee and former candidate for Polk County School Board District 5, Sam Romain, chairman of the Polk County Republican Executive Committee, and Jon Friedt, pastor at Believer’s Fellowship Church of Lakeland.
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