Sophie Rain Cashes £10,000 Bet After Byron Donalds Clinches Florida GOP Nomination; James Fishback Finishes Third

Sophie Rain will collect a five-figure charity wager after Republican Rep. Byron Donalds secured the GOP nomination for Florida governor, effectively ending James Fishback's insurgent campaign.

With incomplete returns reported, Donalds — a Trump-backed congressman from Naples — led the Republican field with roughly 48% of the vote. Lt. Gov. Jay Collins finished second with about 25%, James Fishback placed third with roughly 10%, and Florida House Speaker Paul Renner took roughly 9%.

On the Democratic side, former U.S. Rep. David Jolly won his primary with about 61% and will face Donalds in November to replace term-limited Gov. Ron DeSantis.

How the Bet Began

The wager traces back to an April appearance on Piers Morgan Uncensored. During a heated exchange about Fishback's proposal to impose a 50% "sin tax" on half of some adult-content creators' earnings, Morgan offered Fishback a charity bet of £10,000 (about $13,000) that he would not win the governorship. Sophie Rain publicly responded on Twitter that she would match the bet, writing, "i will match that bet." With Fishback finishing third, Rain's pledge is now secured.

The Policy Clash

The dispute began in January when Fishback, a 31-year-old financier and political outsider, publicly urged Rain to "pay up or quit OnlyFans," saying as governor he would not allow "a generation of smart and capable young women to sell their bodies online." Rain, a 23-year-old adult-content creator, fired back on social media and noted she already pays about 37% in federal taxes. She questioned why creators were being singled out, particularly in a state without personal income tax.

Rain on Morgan's show: "Florida already has no income state tax. It doesn't exist. So, it seems very selective and it seems like it's a punishment."

Fishback defended the proposal as a deterrent and said revenue from the tax would fund teachers' salaries and children's lunches. He argued the state would be better off if young people aspired to careers such as teaching, medicine, or small business ownership rather than producing adult content.

Campaign Context and Controversies

Fishback ran as an outsider, championing attention-grabbing ideas such as so-called "DOGE dividend" payments funded by federal spending cuts. He drew endorsements from some conservative media figures and support among younger online conservatives, but he never seriously threatened Donalds in major polls.

Fishback's campaign was also marred by inflammatory remarks about Donalds, who is Black; Fishback labeled Donalds a "slave" to special interests and suggested his policies would create "Section 8 ghettos," comments that drew criticism.

Donalds entered the race with prominent backing, including support from former President Donald Trump, and a campaign war chest reported to be approaching $100 million. He led polling throughout the primary contest and finished comfortably ahead on election night.

With the primary decided, the general-election match-up to watch is Donalds vs. David Jolly in November.