Naples Republican Congressman Byron Donalds easily defeats Democrat challenger Cindy Banyai

Naples Republican Congressman Byron Donalds is now a sophomore, easily defending his District 19 seat against two-time Democrat challenger Cindy Banyai of Fort Myers to win a second term.

Donalds, 44, received 68% of the reported votes compared to 32% of the vote for Banyai, 42. With a 70.3% share of Collier votes, he fared slightly better in his home county than in Lee, where he earned 67.13%. The Associated Press called the race in his favor shortly after 8:15 p.m. Tuesday.

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The results aren’t a surprise in this deep-red 834,988-person Lee and Collier district, where GOP voters outnumber Democrats by 100,000. Older, whiter and slightly more female than the rest of the United States, District 19 extends from Cape Coral in Lee County to the Ten Thousand Islands in Collier and includes Fort Myers, Naples, Bonita Springs, Estero and barrier islands in both counties hard-hit by Hurricane Ian.

Donalds, a banker with a degree in finance and marketing from Florida State University had faced a lone challenger in the primary, civil engineer Jim Huff, while university instructor and consulting business owner Banyai was the only Democrat who ran.

Donalds, a self-described “Trump-supporting, liberty-loving, pro-life, pro-Second Amendment Black man” has remained close to the former president and many of his Southwest Florida supporters. As it was in 2020, water quality was central to his campaign, for which he raised $5.4 million. The economy, immigration and Republican control of the house also were key issues, along with bringing in federal dollars to help with Hurricane Ian recovery.

Reached at Gov. Ron DeSantis’ victory party at the Tampa Convention Center after the election, Donalds said he was “really thankful the people of Southwest Florida decided to have me be their representative again. You’re always nervous on election day, and that part is humbling as it’s ever been.”

Though he said he’d been feeling confident, he wasn’t ready to relax. “The work we’ve done the last two years really spoke for itself and I’m glad to see the people believe that as well.”

His priorities for his second term?

“Obviously, we’re going to continue our focus on local water quality," Donalds said. "We have to deal with the rebuild from Hurricane Ian and efforts on the federal level to be supportive of Southwest Florida and No. 3 is going to be getting the federal government out of the way of the American people so people can get back on track. Our country can not wait another two years.”

Earlier this year, Donalds broadcast his interest in the GOP’s No. 3 role, challenging New Yorker Elisa Stefanik for the conference chair position. as well as his mission to diversify his party, demonstrating it’s not a whites-only club.

Donalds' 2020 win made him Florida's third-ever Black Republican to serve in the U.S. House. Tea Party champion Allen West was elected in 2011 for a single term; before that Josiah Walls held the seat for three terms during the Reconstruction, starting in 1871. Like Walls, Donalds served in the Florida House before running for U.S. Congress.

This article originally appeared on Naples Daily News: Byron Donalds wins election for U.S. House District 19 seat