Rep. Byron Donalds won Florida's governorship on Tuesday, defeating Democrat and former GOP congressman David Jolly to become the state's first Black governor, according to a projection from NBC News, which called Florida for Republicans even as Democrats flipped governor's mansions in Georgia, Nevada, Ohio and Iowa the same night.

Donalds, a Trump-endorsed member of Congress from Southwest Florida, had led in polling averages heading into Election Day, with RealClearPolling showing him ahead of Jolly by roughly five points and prediction markets giving him better than 4-in-5 odds of winning. He is set to succeed term-limited Gov. Ron DeSantis in January.

A Crowded Road to Tallahassee

Donalds won the Republican nomination in August with the president's backing, topping a crowded primary field that included state Sen. Jay Collins and former House Speaker Paul Renner. Jolly, a former Republican congressman who later became a Democrat and a cable-news commentator, easily won his own party's nomination the same night.

FLORIDA'S FIRST BLACK GOVERNOR

On the trail, Donalds promised continuity with DeSantis-era policies on taxes and immigration enforcement, telling supporters at one stop that Florida "will stay red" and that "voters know what works." Jolly had tried to cast the race as a referendum on affordability and insurance costs, but was unable to overcome the state's rightward shift in recent election cycles.

Donalds' win was one of the few bright spots for Republicans on a night that saw the GOP lose its House majority and at least seven Senate seats. He becomes the third sitting Black governor in U.S. history to be elected in the Deep South or Southeast, and the first in Florida's 180-year statehood.

Final county-by-county tallies were still being certified Wednesday morning, but no major outlet projected a different outcome. Donalds is expected to be sworn in alongside the new Congress in January.