Jolly campaigns in Venice as governor’s race matching funds grow

VENICE, Fla. (WWSB) - Democratic gubernatorial nominee David Jolly held a discussion in Venice Monday night to address issues in his campaign for governor.

Jolly spoke with seniors, advocates and people with disabilities at the Venice Community Center about protecting home and community-based services.

Jolly is running on expanding Medicaid, investing in primary care clinics and lowering health care costs while improving access, according to the discussion.

“Something far more powerful than I can ever do in politics, which is, for so many people, this is about your life,” Jolly said. “Not about policies, not about dollars, sure. The policies and the dollars are the impact and the decisions, but this is about your life.”

Republican candidate Byron Donalds visited Venice last week, touring PGT Custom Windows and holding a question-and-answer session with employees.

DeSantis, Donalds appear together at GOP forum in Tampa

Donalds addressed his position on data centers during the visit.

“We want to make sure local governments keep them away from residential communities,” Donalds said. “But number four, that law, what it also does, that law allows local government to make the final decision on where a data center goes. If Sarasota County doesn’t want to put a data center in, that’s a decision of the county commissioners in Sarasota County. We are going to respect local control when it comes to data centers.”

Florida’s public matching fund program distributed another $115,000 to gubernatorial candidates.

Jolly received nearly $94,000, while Donalds received almost $21,000.

The taxpayer-backed program, which matches small individual donations, has distributed nearly $3.5 million this election cycle.