Who is Byron Donalds?: On Wednesday, Florida Republican Rep.-elect Byron Donalds became the latest “spoiler” candidate for House speaker, sponsored by a coalition of conservatives who wish to thwart the election of Republican leader Kevin McCarthy.
Donalds, a native of Brooklyn who moved to Florida to attend college, made news on Tuesday when he switched his vote from McCarthy to Rep.-elect JimB Jordan (R-OBhio), despite previously supporting McCarthy twice.
Then, on Wednesday, McCarthy’s opponent, RepB.-elect Chip Roy (R-Texas), nominated Donalds for speaker on the fourth ballot, hailing the 44-year-old as the type of “outsider” who might drain the “swamp” in Washington.
Roy highlighted that Hakeem Jeffries, the Democratic leader of New York, was also nominated by his party for speaker, making the total number of black Americans nominated for the office two for the first time in American history.
The country desperately needs a fresh direction, making Byron’s nomination vital. Roy stated, “This city and this community are broken, and this is not the kind of leadership this country needs.”
A representative for Colorado, Lauren Boebert, renominated Donald Trump on the fifth round, while a Representative for Pennsylvania, Scott Perry, did the same on the sixth ballot. Twenty Republicans supported Donalds on each of the three ballots, but the majority of the Republican conference stayed faithful to McCarthy.
Donalds is a rising star in the Republican Party and was elected to the House for the first time in 2020. His Wall Street Journal biography describes him as “a robust, Trump-supporting, gun-owning, liberty-loving, pro-life, politically incorrect black man.”
Roy, referring to his coworker on Wednesday, said, “Byron Donalds is a good man who was raised by a single mother, endured hardships, became a Christian at the age of 21, and has devoted his life to promoting the cause for his family and country, and he has done an outstanding job.”
According to Donald’s congressional website, his mother “spent her time teaching him that greatness requires sacrifice,” which “motivates him as a devoted family man and United States Representative.” Donalds was raised in Crown Heights by his mother.
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In the year following his 1996 graduation from Nazareth Regional High School in East Flatbush, Donald was accused of trafficking marijuana. The accusation against Donalds was withdrawn because he engaged in a pretrial diversion program.
Donalds enrolled at Florida A&M University in Tallahassee but was arrested again on bribery allegations relating to a bank fraud plot. I met a woman fifteen years ago. Donalds stated in a 2014 television appearance, “She offered me $1,000 for my bank card and PIN.”
Although I never recovered the missing $1,000, I was finally required to repay the bank almost $7,000. The matter was finally dismissed, and Donalds went on to get a degree in finance and marketing from the nearby Florida State University. His graduation year was 2002.
He justified his change back into a decent person by saying, “I just started attending church, and I began examining my life and decisions with a great deal of care.” After 10 years in the banking and financial industry, Donalds entered politics in 2012, when he ran for the House of Representatives and finished fifth in a primary with six other Republicans.
In 2016, when he was elected to the Florida House of Representatives for a total of two terms, he lowered his expectations. To succeed retiring Republican Representative Francis Rooney in Florida’s 19th Congressional District, he first won the August 2020 Republican primary and then the general election in November 2020.
Donalds was re-elected on November 8, and he garnered 68% of the vote. In Naples, Florida, he resides with his wife, Erika, and their three sons, Damon, Darin, and Mason.
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