Florida Rep. Byron Donalds, a Republican gubernatorial hopeful, admits to selling marijuana as a teen

In the race to be Florida's next governor, Republican Congressman Byron Donalds has the endorsement of President Donald Trump, a campaign war chest that has raised more than $45 million, and a clear lead in every poll.

But with those advantages comes new scrutiny of his past, including an arrest for marijuana possession when he was 18-years-old.

Donalds, now 47, has often told the story of what occurred in 1997 when he was a student at Florida A&M University in Tallahassee.

"I was walking down the street," he recalled recently. "I was leaving a party, officers came up, asked me if I would empty my pockets. I said, 'Yes, of course.' I had a dime bag of marijuana in my pocket. That's the story."

Byron Donalds acknowledges that he didn't just possess marijuana – he sold it

We now know there was more to the story.

For the first time, Donalds acknowledges that he didn't just possess marijuana, but that he was also dealing at the time.

In an interview with CBS News Miami, Donalds confirmed an account first given by his ex-wife, Bisa Hall, nearly two years ago.

"We had this neighbor who sold drugs and they got close," Hall told the online publication, Florida Trident, in July 2024. "Byron thought that was his path to fix his money situation. He was making bad choices. It never made sense to me why he did it. I had a level of concern. I had to worry, 'What if he got arrested?'"

That arrest came in October 1997.

At the time of the Florida Trident story, Donalds did not respond publicly to questions about Hall's statements. But during a lengthy interview this week with CBS Miami covering his life and his campaign for governor, Donalds said she was correct and that he dealt drugs "for a period of time, low level amounts."

He was also arrested in 2000, when he was 20, on a fraud charge.

During the CBS Miami interview, he repeatedly referred to his actions during that period of his life as being based on "stupid decisions," "bad decisions," and "terrible decisions."

"There is a lot of decision I wish I could redo from those early years," he said. "Eighteen, 19, and 20 were really tough years for me. Made a lot bad decisions that I regret. But in life, you're not who you are at the lowest point in your life. What you do is you decide to just push forward and try to make sure you make better decisions in the future. And I would tell people, if you examine my life since 20 years old, my life has really been a story of redemption."

He credits his current wife Erika for that change. "At 21, I gave my life to Christ," he said. "It's a story out there, I've talked about it before, I actually gave my life to Christ at a Cracker Barrel when I was at work. But before giving my life to Christ, the person who got me going to church was my wife now, my girlfriend at the time, Erika."

After his arrest on the drug charge, Donalds was allowed to enter a pre-trial diversion program, paid $150 fine and the charges were ultimately dropped. On the fraud charges, he pled no contest and later had his record sealed and then expunged.

And yet while in Congress, Donalds is sponsoring a crime bill that critics say would deny young adults in the District of Columbia the same opportunity for a second chance he received.

Donalds defends the D.C. CRIMES bill, arguing prosecutors and judges were trying 18- to 24-year-olds as juveniles.

"In Florida, I had to face the music as an adult," Donalds said. "In D. C., they were letting 24- year-olds be tried as juveniles, that's not right."

Critics say Donalds is misstating the current law in the District of Columbia. The current statutes in the District of Columbia refer to people under 25 as "youthful" offenders and would allow judges, in certain cases, to take the age of the defendant into consideration.

Donalds bill would change the provision allowing for lighter sentences for someone younger than 25 – lowering the threshold to 18. It would also prevent the D.C. city council from enacting any new sentencing measures.

Texas Rep. Jasmine Crockett took aim at Donalds

During the House floor debate on Donalds bill last year, Texas Democratic Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett took aim at Donalds.

"Imagine being a young man born to Jamaican and Panamanian parents who messed up not once but twice," she said. "Imagine standing in front of a judge with your whole future hanging in the balance, and instead of prison, you are given a promise of mercy. Your record gets wiped clean; you get a second chance at life. Now, imagine taking that promise and turning it into a promotion. You go to college; you get a job and even become a member of Congress."

"That's what redemption looks like," she continued. "That's what America is supposed to be about, and that is exactly the story of the next wannabe governor from Florida as a young man."

"Now, he's the face of a bill that would not afford young people in Washington, D.C. the same opportunities afforded to him," she said. "Let me be real, if he had grown up under Donald Trump's America, or under the very D.C. Crimes Bill he's pushing he wouldn't be standing here as a member of Congress."

The bill passed by a vote of 240 to 179 with 31 Democrats crossing party lines to vote in support and only one Republican voting against it. The bill has stalled in the Senate and is unlikely to be passed.

Donalds said the bill received bipartisan support in the House because crime in the District of Columbia was out of control before President Trump deployed the National Guard to the district.

Addressing the charge of hypocrisy, Donalds told CBS Miami: "Florida does have laws around diversion, being able to seal records, and yes, those are things that were afforded to me. And I look back on those days, and I say, you know what, that helped me restart my life, so be it. But in D.C., it was very different."

"And I would argue my critics – who want to talk about that bill and want to have this false claim of hypocrisy – they say that because they want soft-on-crime policies in D. C.," he said. "They do not like the fact that President Trump has actually put in the policies that has made the nation's capital safe once again."