Buzz that Donalds will pick Miami running mate builds ahead of Freedom Tower event

The Republican candidate for Florida’s next governor, Byron Donalds, is expected to announce his running mate at the Freedom Tower in downtown Miami Tuesday — and there’s a good chance it’ll be a Cuban-American politician from Miami.

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The Freedom Tower is a symbolic location to make a “major announcement,” as the event is formally being billed, emphasizing Miami’s key electoral significance heading into the November election. The location once served as an asylum center for Cuban refugees and is now a museum dedicated to Cuban history.

“I think it’s indicative of the value of Miami,” Miami-Dade Republican Party Chairman Kevin Cooper said.

Gov. Ron DeSantis — with Miami’s Jeanette Nuñez as his running mate — flipped Miami-Dade red in 2022, winning by more than 11% after losing the county his first election campaign. Donald Trump then won Miami-Dade County in 2024, garnering a 12% lead over Democrat Kamala Harris.

For Donalds, who’s endorsed by Trump, building a strong base of support in Miami is a key part of his path to the governor’s mansion. But Trump’s waning popularity amid aggressive immigration crackdowns and worsening affordability concerns could signal trouble in South Florida.

“The Trump coalition that helped put him in again in 2024 — which was younger people, younger men in particular, the Cuban population in South Florida pulling in larger than expected numbers for him — as far as I can tell, that coalition has, if not completely collapsed now, really fallen apart quite a bit,” University of North Florida pollster Sean Freeder said earlier this month.

A running mate from Miami — home to more voters than any other county in the state — could help bolster that coalition for Donalds heading into November. He captured 58% of Republican voters in Miami-Dade during last week’s primary election, a significantly higher margin than his statewide margin of 48%.

Donalds failed to capture 17 counties in the primary, mostly in rural areas with almost entirely white Republican electorates — and will need to run up his margins in places like Miami if that trend continues into November.

He’s running against David Jolly, a former Republican congressman who switched parties and won the Democratic nomination last week. Jolly announced in Tallahassee in June that his running mate would be Gwen Graham, a former congresswoman and daughter of former Florida Gov. Bob Graham.

The Graham family has its own connections to Miami-Dade, having developed much of Miami Lakes, where the Jolly campaign gathered to watch primary results roll in.

Cooper, the local GOP chairman, argued that a Miami-based lieutenant governor’s candidate on the Republican ticket would not be an indication of Donalds’ weakness in Miami-Dade, but a signal of its importance.

“In presidential politics, they look for someone who will kind of help them with their weakness,” Cooper said. “I’m not so sure that’s what’s happening here, I think it’s just an addition to an already good team. You’re going to bring someone who understands Miami, who gets Miami, who understands the culture of Miami and the business element.”

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Miami state senators on the list

Donalds’ lieutenant governor shortlist, first reported by POLITICO, has been circulating for weeks, and there are a couple Miami lawmakers on the list that would make sense to announce at the Freedom Tower.

That list includes state Sen. Bryan Avila, a 42-year-old veteran with the Florida Army National Guard who has represented Cuban-majority Miami communities in the state House and Senate.

He touts his designation as the “Most Conservative Member of the Legislature in 2024,” according to a Republican group, on his campaign website and recently sponsored legislation putting the constitutional amendment to cut property taxes on November’s ballot. He did not respond to a request for comment.

Another Cuban American, Republican state Sen. Ana Maria Rodriguez, 49, has also been under consideration, she confirmed to the Herald/Times. She represents southwest Miami-Dade, the Florida Keys and part of Monroe County. She’s a former lobbyist, Doral councilwoman and state representative who touts herself as an “independent” voice advocating for small businesses and tax cuts in the legislature.

“I’m honored and humbled that he would consider me for this position,” she told the Herald/Times Monday. “I am very happy serving in the Florida Senate, and look forward to helping Congressman Donalds in whatever capacity that looks like.”

Florida GOP committeeman and Miami state Rep. Juan Carlos Porras said either of the two Miami state senators would be “phenomenal” and help connect Donalds’ campaign to Miami voters.

It’s “super important I think for name ID and getting the message across to voters here in the area that we will have someone that knows our community and that cares about our issues,” Porras said. He said he briefly talked about the position for himself with the Donalds’ campaign as well, but at 29, is too young to serve in the role under Florida law.

One of Donalds’ closest Florida allies in Congress, Gainesville Rep. Kat Cammack, has also been floated as a potential running mate. Her office declined to comment. And Palm Beach State Rep. Meg Weinberger, who led the initiative to rename Palm Beach International Airport after Trump, was named as a possible pick, first reported by the Floridian earlier this summer.

She said in a statement Monday, “Right now, my focus is on serving the people of my district and doing everything I can to help Byron Donalds win in November.”

Donalds’ campaign declined to comment on their decision-making process. After Miami’s event Tuesday, Donalds is heading across the state with his “special guest” to Sanford in the early afternoon and St. Petersburg in the evening.

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El Nuevo Herald staff writer Veronica Egui Brito contributed to this report.