Florida Republicans fend off Democrats as state elects first black governor

Nixon scored a surprise win in the Democratic primary to become her party's standard-bearer, although her campaign funding could not match Moody's.

Donalds had served in Congress since 2021 before running for governor, to replace long-serving Republican Governor Ron DeSantis, who was term limited and could not run again.

A big supporter of Trump, Donalds was at one point on the short list to be his running mate in 2024.

Born in Brooklyn, he moved to Florida for university and became a fixture in local politics before running for Congress.

Democrats in the state had some surprise wins, too. Republicans in Florida had helped redraw political voting maps as part of a national redistricting push to boost each political party's chances of taking seats in the House.