David Jolly, a 2026 gubernatorial candidate, wants Florida to take over natural disaster coverage from private insurers.
David Jolly, the Democrat hoping to replace Ron DeSantis as the new governor of Florida in next year's election, wants the state to take over hurricane and other natural disaster coverage from the private market.
For supporters, the move could help stabilize the shaky Florida home insurance market, which has recently recovered from years of skyrocketing premiums amid an exodus of private carriers. For critics, it could force the state to shoulder a financial burden far greater than it can afford.Who Is David Jolly?Jolly is among the candidates running in Florida's November 2026 gubernatorial election. DeSantis, who has served two consecutive terms, is term-limited from seeking another and set to leave office in January 2027.Jolly is a vastly different figure from DeSantis, who maintains an approval rate of 54 percent among Floridians, according to the latest Associated Industries of Florida Center for Political Strategy. Firstly, Jolly is a Democrat—the leading candidate for the party in the upcoming election.Secondly, he is a stark critic of President Donald Trump, behind whom DeSantis has thrown his support despite initially running against him in the 2024 Republican presidential primaries.Jolly is an attorney and former state congressman who represented Florida's 13th District between 2014 and 2017 as a member of the Republican Party. In 2018, he became an independent and announced this summer that he would run in the 2026 gubernatorial election as a Democrat.Explaining his decision in a recent interview with CBS News Miami, he said his values aligned with the Democratic Party. 'I think in the state of Florida and the two-party system, the Democratic Party is the right vessel to bring about change, to lead a coalition of Democratic voters, traditional Democratic voters, independents, and commonsense Republicans. I think the Democratic Party can lead that coalition best,' he said.The GOP currently leads Florida, which has voted Republican in 13 of the last 17 presidential elections, including in 2016, 2020 and 2024.Jolly is polling behind Republican candidate Byron Donalds for the 2026 gubernatorial race. A recent poll published earlier this month by the AIF Center for Political Strategy showed Donalds leading Jolly 49 to 41 percent. Both candidates failed to reach the 50 percent threshold, as 11 percent of Floridians remained undecided so far ahead of the election.What Change to the State's Insurance Market Is He Proposing?Jolly is proposing that the state of Florida take over coverage for natural disasters, including hurricanes, from the private home insurance market under a new state catastrophic fund. While homeowners would still need to purchase private insurance for other issues—including thefts or fire—storm losses would be covered by the state.According to the Democratic candidate, this move could help slash home insurance premiums by as much as 60 percent. The cost of covering Florida homes for storms and hurricanes has skyrocketed in recent years as climate change makes natural disasters more frequent and more severe.Over the past five years, several private carriers in the state have either gone burst, cut coverage or left the state entirely, mentioning rising costs due to higher catastrophe exposure, excessive litigation and widespread fraud. While lawmakers in Tallahassee have addressed the last two issues through a sweeping tort reform that has produced positive results, natural disasters continue to pose a growing threat.Last year alone, disasters costing $11 billion hit Florida, according to data from the National Centers for Environmental Information, with a total cost between $300 billion and $450 billion from 1980 to 2024.Between the last quarter of 2022, when lawmakers introduced their legislative reforms, and the first quarter of 2025, the state's insurance premiums surged by 34 percent, according to data from the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation. This year, the average premium reached $3,023 statewide.What Are People Saying About the Proposal?David Jolly said, as reported by Fox 13: 'I think we need bold, dramatic property insurance reform. We need a state catastrophic fund to remove hurricane coverage out of the private market. You could cut private insurance by about 60 percent.'He added: 'So we have a hurricane fund in the state of Florida that's basically a reinsurance fund. I'm talking about fully removing natural disaster perils from the private market, funding a state catastrophic fund. … We have to recognize, when private markets fail, government has to step in. We do it in health care, right? We have Medicare and Medicaid and other programs because the health care market is just too expensive for many people, but we have to think about that in property insurance as well.'Mark Friedlander of the Insurance Information Institute, or Triple-I, told the news outlet: 'State-backed solutions for insurance are not an effective model. … The private market is healthier. In fact, today, the Florida insurance market is in its strongest financial position in more than a decade. So why would we want to mess with that?'He added: 'People unrealistically expect rates to go back. 2020 or earlier, that's not possible. It's impossible to turn the clock back and say, we're gonna cut your bill in half. No matter what the solution is, it's absolutely impossible.'
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