Florida Could Reach Election Day With No Confirmed Statewide Debates

Florida voters could enter the final weeks of the 2026 campaign without seeing the major-party candidates in any of the state's biggest races meet on a debate stage.

As of September 22, IRC Media found no confirmed two-candidate general-election debate in the races for governor, U.S. Senate, attorney general, chief financial officer or agriculture commissioner.

That does not mean debate organizations have stopped trying.

Universities, television stations and other organizations announced several proposed debates earlier in the election cycle. But an announced event is not the same thing as an agreement by both candidates to participate — a distinction that has become increasingly important as the November 3 general election approaches.

The most visible breakdown is in the race for governor between Republican Byron Donalds and Democrat David Jolly.

Jolly announced Sunday that he will not participate in a general-election debate with Donalds, ending weeks of competing invitations and disagreements over which events the campaigns would attend.

The dispute also means Florida could hold its first gubernatorial general election since 1974 without the major-party nominees debating one another. Contemporary reporting identifies the 1974 race between Democratic Gov. Reubin Askew and Republican Jerry Thomas as the last such election without a debate. Records from the following election show Bob Graham and Jack Eckerd participated in a statewide televised forum in 1978, followed by documented debates in subsequent gubernatorial campaigns.

HOW THE GOVERNOR DEBATES FELL APART

Donalds publicly challenged Jolly to three debates in July, before the primary election was complete. His campaign invited television, radio and streaming organizations to submit proposals and said the debates should cover issues including affordability, insurance, education, public safety, immigration and economic growth.

The campaigns eventually accepted different events.

Jolly's campaign said it had accepted invitations from the Tampa Bay Tiger Bay Club and CBS Miami. Donalds' campaign announced September 18 that it had accepted three other proposals: one involving Telemundo 51 and NBC 6 in South Florida, another with Spectrum News, and another with News4Jax. Donalds' proposed format called for two podiums and no studio audience.

The campaigns disputed how those arrangements were handled.

Jolly told the USA TODAY Network-Florida that Donalds' campaign had not approached his campaign before publicly announcing the three events and said his team learned about them through the press release.

Then, on September 20, Jolly changed course and declined all debates.

Jolly said he believed the current campaign environment and what he characterized as Donalds' "repeated lies and bad faith" meant a debate would not result in a constructive conversation. He also accused Donalds of rejecting earlier debate invitations and then establishing his own terms through a news release. Those are Jolly campaign assertions, not independently established conclusions.

Donalds responded by pointing to Jolly's previous willingness to debate and criticizing the reversal. In a social-media post, Donalds wrote: "I said 3 debates. Jolly said 12 debates. Yesterday, Jolly said no debates." His campaign separately accused Jolly of avoiding a defense of his policy positions.

The result is that the two candidates have not agreed to meet at the same event.

WHAT HAPPENS TO THE ALREADY-ANNOUNCED DEBATES?

At least two major debate organizations publicly announced gubernatorial events before the campaigns reached their current impasse.

Florida A&M University announced that it would host a statewide gubernatorial debate with Spectrum News Florida on September 29 at 7 p.m. in Tallahassee. FAMU's announcement notably said information about participating candidates would be released later — meaning the university had announced the event, not confirmed that both nominees had agreed to appear.

After Jolly withdrew from debates, WCTV reported that FAMU was determining whether the event could continue with only one candidate. As of September 22, it should therefore not be described as a confirmed Donalds-Jolly debate.

A separate debate series, "Decision 2026: Before YOU Vote," announced in July that Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton would host a U.S. Senate debate October 13 and a gubernatorial debate October 15, both produced and moderated by WPBF 25.

Partners include Florida Trend, the James Madison Institute, the Florida Press Association/Foundation and the LeRoy Collins Institute.

IRC Media found no subsequent public announcement from WPBF or FAU formally canceling the October 15 event as of Tuesday morning. But with Jolly now saying he will not debate, there is no confirmed Donalds-Jolly matchup for that date.

In other words: the venues and dates may exist, but a debate between the two nominees does not currently exist unless candidate participation changes.

THE SENATE RACE HAS A SIMILAR PROBLEM

Florida's U.S. Senate contest between Republican Sen. Ashley Moody and Democratic state Rep. Angie Nixon also has no confirmed debate.

Action News Jax had been working with the University of North Florida to organize a debate. Nixon agreed to participate. Moody declined.

Moody's campaign provided the station with remarks from a previous interview in which Moody described Nixon as "anti-American" and a "Democrat Socialist" and criticized Nixon for quoting activist Assata Shakur.

Moody said that because of those views, "I'm not going to give a stage or any attention to that." The characterization of Nixon is Moody's political assessment of her opponent and is presented here as such.

Nixon sharply criticized Moody for refusing the invitation and said she wanted the opportunity to debate.

The Jacksonville/UNF proposal was not the only offer.

Florida Politics reported that three general-election debate opportunities were presented to the Senate candidates: the Jacksonville-area event involving Action News Jax and UNF; the FAU/WPBF "Decision 2026" debate; and a proposed Spectrum News/Florida State University event. Nixon's campaign said it accepted all three.

WPBF's previously announced Senate debate remains dated for October 13 at Florida Atlantic University, but IRC Media found no evidence that Moody has agreed to participate.

Accordingly, there is no confirmed Moody-Nixon debate as of September 22.

WHERE FLORIDA'S STATEWIDE DEBATES STAND

GOVERNOR Republican: Byron Donalds Democrat: David Jolly Status: CANDIDATE DECLINED

Donalds has accepted three debate proposals. Jolly previously accepted different invitations but announced September 20 that he will not participate in a general-election debate with Donalds. Several host-announced events remain publicly listed, but none currently represents an agreed Donalds-Jolly debate.

U.S. SENATE Republican: Sen. Ashley Moody Democrat: Rep. Angie Nixon Status: CANDIDATE DECLINED

Moody declined the Action News Jax/University of North Florida debate. Nixon's campaign says it accepted all three debate proposals reported this month. No Moody-Nixon debate is currently confirmed.

ATTORNEY GENERAL Republican: Attorney General James Uthmeier Democrat: José Javier Rodríguez Status: NO DEBATE CURRENTLY SCHEDULED

Rodríguez has publicly challenged Uthmeier to debate. WUSF reported September 22 that no attorney general debate is scheduled and that Republican campaign representatives did not respond to its request for comment. IRC Media found no public acceptance of Rodríguez's challenge from Uthmeier's campaign.

CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER Republican: CFO Blaise Ingoglia Democrat: Annette Taddeo Status: NO DEBATE CURRENTLY SCHEDULED

No CFO debate is publicly scheduled. A Taddeo campaign spokesperson told WUSF that Taddeo is ready to make her case to voters and questioned whether Ingoglia would participate. WUSF reported no response from Republican campaign representatives. That is not the same as Ingoglia formally declining an invitation; IRC Media found no evidence of a specific accepted or rejected debate proposal.

AGRICULTURE COMMISSIONER Republican: Agriculture Commissioner Wilton Simpson Democrat: Joey Mendoza Atkins Status: NO DEBATE CURRENTLY SCHEDULED

No agriculture commissioner debate is publicly scheduled. An Atkins spokesperson told WUSF that Atkins is willing to debate and said the campaign expects Simpson not to participate unless it hears otherwise. That expectation is the Democratic campaign's assessment; IRC Media found no public statement from Simpson declining a debate.

WHAT ABOUT CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT 9?

The debate question extends into the congressional district that now includes Indian River County.

Democratic U.S. Rep. Darren Soto will face Republican Dan Green in Florida's redrawn 9th Congressional District.

The new district includes Indian River, Okeechobee, Highlands and Glades counties along with portions of Orange, Osceola and Polk counties.

Indian River County voters have already seen one major CD9 candidate event this cycle — but it was not a general-election debate.

The Republican Club of Indian River hosted a July 29 forum in Vero Beach involving the seven Republican primary candidates, including Green. Soto was not part of the Republican primary forum.

As of September 22, IRC Media's review found no publicly announced general-election debate or candidate forum featuring both Soto and Green.

We also found no public statement from either campaign accepting or rejecting a Soto-Green general-election debate.

That makes CD9's current status: NO DEBATE CURRENTLY SCHEDULED.

Because the absence of a public announcement does not establish what private discussions may be taking place, the next step for original reporting would be to ask both campaigns directly.

WHAT VOTERS WOULD MISS

Candidate debates are only one part of an election campaign. Candidates can present their positions through interviews, town halls, campaign appearances, advertisements, news conferences and direct voter contact.

A debate provides something different: candidates receive questions during the same event, voters can compare their answers in real time, and each candidate has an opportunity to respond directly to the other's arguments.

Candidates are not required to debate, and campaigns frequently disagree about hosts, moderators, formats, audiences, dates and participation requirements.

But unless the current situation changes, Florida could reach November 3 without the Republican and Democratic nominees meeting on a debate stage in any of the state's five largest statewide contests.

For governor and Senate, the obstacle is now documented candidate participation.

For attorney general, CFO and agriculture commissioner, the simpler problem is that no debate has been scheduled at all.

And in Congressional District 9, no Soto-Green general-election debate or forum has yet surfaced publicly.

With six weeks remaining before Election Day, there is still time for campaigns or debate organizations to change that picture.

For now, however, Florida has announced debate venues — but no confirmed statewide debate between both major-party nominees.

IRC Media uses aggregated public data and verified sources; articles reviewed by editorial team to the best of our ability. Debate status in this report reflects publicly available information verified as of September 22, 2026, and may change if campaigns or host organizations announce new participation agreements.