Rep. Byron Donalds (R-FL), a candidate for Florida governor, has been accused of threatening to “crush” a mother during an altercation in a gourmet grocery store.
Collier County School Board member Kelly Mason said she filed the civil assault lawsuit Tuesday over the Naples, Florida, confrontation — just over a month before the August 18 Republican primary.
Byron Donalds leads the race by nearly 40 points, according to a May poll by Change Research. President Donald Trump has endorsed him.
The suit, reported by the Daily Mail, alleges Byron Donalds “deliberately confronted” Mason inside the store in August 2022, “aggressively cornered her” while her husband and two young children watched, and “threatened that he could ‘crush’ or ‘finish’ her.”
“Byron becomes very belligerent, raising his voice, yelling at me; it was about dropping this lawsuit,” Mason told the Daily Mail.
Video of the encounter obtained by the Daily Mail shows Byron Donalds shouting at Mason as she walks away.
“End it Kelly… Stop the lawsuits,” Byron Donalds reportedly says in the video.
“He was threatening me,” Mason said, “and then saying he’s going to crush me and come after me, and that I should drop the lawsuit with his wife…”
Mason had previously sued Erika Donalds, a charter school executive and Byron Donalds’ wife, claiming she tried to seize control of Mason Classical Academy, the charter school Mason founded in Naples. That case settled in December 2024.
“This is a baseless, politically motivated attack and shameful publicity stunt designed to damage Byron Donalds in the 2026 election,” a campaign spokesperson told the Daily Mail.
His former Democratic opponent Cindy Banyai told the Florida Trident that Byron Donalds’ senior aide similarly “cornered” her on the campaign trail and “shouted” at her.
“It’s scary to think about someone like him getting even more power,” Mason said, “but there needs to be attention to who he really is.”
Her attorney said the clock was running out — the statute of limitations, the legal deadline to file, expires in August 2026.
Florida votes on August 18.
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