Editor's note: This story was originally published by Suncoast Searchlight.
As Suncoast areas continue to grapple with the effect of short-term vacation rentals, the industry’s most dominant player has staked a major claim in Florida's premier 2026 election.
Airbnb, the online marketplace at the center of local fights over neighborhood rentals, has contributed $1 million to the political committee supporting Republican gubernatorial candidate Byron Donalds, who previously backed legislation to curb local regulation of the industry.
Donalds, who has secured President Donald Trump’s endorsement and amassed more than $74 million for his campaign while facing little serious competition in the Republican primary, is widely viewed as the favorite to become Florida’s next governor.
Airbnb funneled the money through a political committee called “The People Versus The Powerful.” The group is chaired by Andy Gonzalez, Airbnb’s Public Policy Lead for the Southeast and Gulf regions.
On May 19, Airbnb gave $1.5 million to the committee. That same day, the committee transferred $1 million to Friends of Byron Donalds PAC.
Gonzalez did not respond to requests for comment from Suncoast Searchlight. Ryan Smith, a Republican political consultant who chairs Donalds’ committee, also did not respond to requests for comment.
Airbnb’s major donation could signal the company sees Donalds as friendly to its business. As a state representative in 2020, he called the vacation rental industry “a boon to Southwest Florida,” according to CBS News. At the time, he advocated for a bill in the Florida House that would have blocked local regulations on vacation rentals.
Airbnb has also sent more than $900,000 to a PAC belonging to The Southern Group, one of Tallahassee’s blue-chip lobbying firms, as well as $250,000 to a duo of GOP Florida statehouse committees.
The donation comes as municipalities across the Suncoast have fought to crack down on short-term rentals over the past several years, citing concerns that they exacerbate the affordable housing crisis and degrade the character of neighborhoods.
Sarasota first regulated such rentals on the barrier islands in 2020, then the Coalition of City Neighborhood Associations of Sarasota successfully advocated last year to expand the ordinance citywide.
Manatee County is also considering an ordinance on short-term rentals that could include a licensing process and occupancy limits.
Kelly Brown, the president of CCNA, said websites like Airbnb have eroded community character by encouraging big companies to purchase homes for the sole purpose of short-term rentals, which can also raise housing prices by removing the number of homes on the market.
“It’s about the outside influence of an industry that has come in and bought up houses, effectively destroying a community,” Brown said.
The debate has intensified nationwide as studies have shown that concentrations of short-term rentals can modestly increase rents and home prices by reducing the supply of housing available to long-term tenants.
In Sarasota alone, there are an estimated 9,325 active short-term rental listings, according to AirDNA, a data and analytics company for the industry. Across the North Port-Sarasota-Bradenton metropolitan area, the number of available short-term rental listings has increased by about 7.6% over the past two years, AirDNA data show.
The Friends of Byron Donalds PAC has collected more than $74 million to support the congressman’s gubernatorial ambitions, largely from billionaires and corporate interests. Its largest contributors include:
- $7.5 million from Jeff Yass, the billionaire co-founder of Susquehanna International Group and an advocate for charter and private schooling
- $4 million from gambling interests such as the Seminole Tribe of Florida, DraftKings and FanDuel
- $2 million from Richard Uihlein, the billionaire CEO of Uline, a major shipping and distribution company
- $1.5 million from The GEO Group, a private prison operator
- $1.2 million from Thomas Peterffy, the chairman of Interactive Brokers
- $1 million from NextEra Energy, the parent company of Florida Power & Light
- $1 million from Steve Wynn, a billionaire casino magnate
This story was produced by Suncoast Searchlight, a nonprofit newsroom of the Community News Collaborative serving Sarasota, Manatee and DeSoto counties. Learn more at suncoastsearchlight.org.
