Florida gubernatorial candidate banned from Tinder after campaign stunt goes viral

Fishback is seeking the Republican nomination for governor and is running against the Trump-backed Byron Donalds.

By Ben Whedon

Published: February 5, 2026 9:38am

Florida gubernatorial candidate James Fishback announced he had been banned from dating app Tinder this week after an unconventional campaign approach to reach out to young women went viral.

Fishback started the Tinder account to "meet young female voters where they are" and quickly made headlines for the effort. He posted the message from Tinder banning his account, which attributed the action to his use of it for "advertising, promoting, or campaigning."

"I have been BANNED from [Tinder].

How will I now meet young female voters where they are?

ELECTION INTERFERENCE!" he said, apparently joking.

Fishback is seeking the Republican nomination for governor and is running against the Trump-backed Byron Donalds. He has carved out a series of policy positions to the right of Trump and focused his campaign on reaching out to young voters.

Ben Whedon is the Chief Political Correspondent at Just the News. Follow him on X.