Democratic former U.S. Rep. and longtime state lawmaker Al Lawson Jr. says he's mulling a run for Florida governor in 2026, attributing his interest to what he calls the displeasure of the state's Black community with the most prominent Democratic candidate in the race so far having been a Republican.
Lawson, a Tallahassee resident last in elected office as a congressman in 2023, recently sent a brief email to supporters, titled "Governors Race -Endorsement Question," saying he needed "to let all of you know that I'm think about running for Governor."
The former pro basketball player went on, "I think it sad that we are asking a (R)epublican to run as a Democrat for governor. (The) African-American community all over the state is not happy with this decision." The email was first reported by Matt Dixon of NBC News.
Lawson was referring to David Jolly, another former member of Congress who represented Pinellas County. Jolly, who served 2014-17, was Republican and switched his affiliation to Democrat in April 2025 after being no-party-affiliated, records show. Jolly announced his Democratic candidacy in June.
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In a July 2 statement to the USA TODAY NETWORK – Florida, Lawson confirmed the authenticity of the email.
"Many people around the state have asked me to consider running for governor," added Lawson, 76. "I told them that I would consider running by the end of November (2025). I’m going to look at the polling and talk to the party leadership in the next 30 days."
Lawson has a steep climb if he runs: His name recognition is still high in north Florida where he was a congressman, but not as much in other parts of the state. And registered Republican voters now outpace Democrats in the state 5.5 million to almost 4.2 million – a margin of roughly 1.3 million.
Moreover, Lawson didn't elaborate on his assertion that the African-American community in Florida isn't happy with Jolly, and polling data on Black voters' support for Jolly's run wasn't immediately available. A request for comment is pending with a Jolly campaign spokesperson.
If he hops in, Lawson would join Jolly and U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds, a Naples Republican who is endorsed by President Donald Trump, as the better known names in the race. Former Florida Senate Democratic Leader Jason Pizzo, now an independent, also has said he will run.
Who is Al Lawson?
Lawson is the "son of World War II veteran Alfred James Lawson, Sr. and Carrie Mae Lawson, (and) he and his five siblings were raised in the small farming community of Midway," according to his bio on BlackPast, a website dedicated to African American history.
"As a student at Havana Northside High School, Lawson made his mark in basketball and track. He was also a basketball star at Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University (FAMU), where he earned a bachelor’s degree in political science in 1970." The school's Alfred Lawson, Jr. Multipurpose Center is named after him.
He played for the Indiana Pacers and Atlanta Hawks before becoming an assistant basketball coach at Florida State University in 1972, "helping the Seminoles make the Elite Eight of the NCAA tournament." He also got a Master of Public Administration degree from FSU, according to the bio.
He entered the insurance industry in the late '70s, then started his own marketing and communications firm and was director of the Tallahassee Urban League before getting into politics.
What's Al Lawson's political history?
Lawson was first elected in 1982 to the Florida House in pre-term limits days, serving there for 18 years. He then was elected to north Florida political legend Pat Thomas' old seat in the Florida Senate in 2000, representing a greater swath of the Big Bend.
He spent 10 years in that chamber, rising to Senate Democratic leader. Over his time in state office, the Florida Legislature swung from a Democratic majority to being Republican-dominated, and the GOP has supermajorities in both chambers today.
Lawson led an effort to pass legislation, ultimately signed by Gov. Lawton Chiles in 1994, to compensate descendants of the Rosewood massacre, a racially motivated attack in 1923 in Levy County in which a white mob destroyed the Black town, killing several residents and forcing survivors to flee.
In 2010, Lawson sought to unseat the incumbent in Florida’s 2nd Congressional District, challenging seven-term incumbent Allen Boyd. He lost narrowly to Boyd in the primary, who himself was walloped by over 12 percentage points in the general election by Republican newcomer Steve Southerland.
Lawson ran again against Southerland in 2012, losing again. But he ran against Jacksonville's Corrine Brown, another political longtimer, in the redistricted 5th District, which stretched roughly from Jacksonville to Tallahassee, and won the seat in 2016.
Another redistricting wiped out that configuration, forcing Lawson to run in a redrawn 2nd District in 2022 that included Tallahassee but heavily favored Republicans in the 12 mainly rural counties that surround Leon and Gadsden. He lost to current GOP incumbent Neal Dunn of Panama City.
Redrawn: Florida Supreme Court upholds DeSantis-backed congressional district maps
Lawson became a registered lobbyist, most recently representing Gadsden County, state lobbying records show.
A legal challenge that amounted to a last stand for his hopes to return to Congress was dashed by the Florida Supreme Court in July. The court upheld the redrawn 5th District that Lawson held, saying the Legislature couldn’t have kept the old CD 5 intact without drawing it based on "racial motives."
"Let’s be honest - this was Ron DeSantis’s map, and every single justice who upheld it was appointed by him," Lawson said in a statement at the time. "These partisan judges owe their jobs to Ron DeSantis, and they continue to rubber-stamp whatever he wants. This isn’t justice – it’s political loyalty in robes."
(This story was updated to add new information.)
This story contains previously published material. Jim Rosica is a member of the USA TODAY Network – Florida Capital Bureau. Reach him at [email protected] and follow him on Twitter/X: @JimRosicaFL
This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Tallahassee's Al Lawson says he may run for Florida governor in 2026
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