Florida's governor's race will head to the Nov. 3 election without a debate between the two major-party candidates.

Jolly pulls out of debate talks

Democratic nominee David Jolly announced Sunday, Sept. 20, that he will not debate Republican nominee Rep. Byron Donalds, citing what he called Donalds' "repeated lies and bad faith." The announcement came one day after Donalds addressed the debate dispute during a campaign stop in Clearwater.

"We know where we're going to be; we put out the dates, we put out the locations, we put out the news networks, you know, Jolly's team has been pretty much unresponsive," Donalds told WFLA's 8 On Your Side on Saturday, Sept. 19. "We're going to show up where we already said we are going to be, and I hope to see him there."

The breakdown started Friday, Sept. 18, when both campaigns announced debate acceptances without coordinating. Jolly accepted invitations from Tampa Bay Tiger Bay and CBS News Miami. Donalds accepted proposals from Telemundo and NBC 6 in South Florida, Spectrum News in Orlando and Tampa, and News4Jax in North Florida.

Neither side contacted the other first.

Jolly told USA Today Network-Florida on Sept. 18 that the Donalds campaign never reached out. Donalds' chief strategist Ryan Smith countered in a statement to Florida's Voice that Donalds had challenged Jolly to three debates in July and "never heard back from him."

Both campaigns dispute what happened

Mark Riddle, a senior adviser to the Jolly campaign, said Donalds "ducked" the Tampa Bay Tiger Bay and CBS News Miami invitations, according to the Florida Phoenix. A Tampa Bay Tiger Bay board member told the Phoenix that the Donalds campaign initially agreed to appear, then reversed course and offered running mate Bryan Avila instead. A spokesperson close to the Donalds campaign denied that account.

In his Sunday statement, Jolly said debates "would not create constructive, honest conversation and only further stoke division, animosity, and bad will." He pointed to more than 300 town halls and community meetings over 18 months of campaigning as evidence voters have been informed.

Jolly also turned Donalds' own primary-season words back on him, writing: "As he said to his GOP primary opponents when he repeatedly declined their requests to debate, 'it's not my job' to platform his campaign." Neither candidate debated opponents ahead of the Aug. 18 primary.

Poll shows a race in a dead heat

A St. Pete Polls survey released around Sept. 18 showed the race in a dead heat, with Donalds at 44% and Jolly at 43% among likely voters, according to the Palm Beach Daily News. The Miami Herald reported that more than 200,000 mail ballots were set to go out in Miami-Dade County on Sept. 24.