Who Is Larry Wilcoxson? 2006 Charges, Donalds, 2026 Race

Larry Wilcoxson is a Florida political operative from Immokalee who spent more than a decade as the senior adviser and “right-hand man” to U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds. His name is in the news because of a long arrest record that includes 2006 child molestation charges, racially charged public comments he made in 2025, and the hundreds of thousands of dollars Donalds’ campaign paid him, all of which have become a central attack line in the 2026 Florida governor’s race.¹

The Comments That Put Him Back in the News

In mid-2025, Wilcoxson told the Florida Trident that certain crimes were the province of white men, saying, “with white men, it’s bombs, it’s serial killers, it’s child molestation.”¹ The Daily Beast picked up the remarks in July 2025, describing him as an “accused sex offender” and questioning the vetting around Donalds and his inner circle.² The comments drew particular attention because of Wilcoxson’s own history on that subject.

The 2006 Indianapolis Molestation Charges

While working as a substitute teacher in Indianapolis in 2006, Wilcoxson was charged with three counts of child molestation involving a 13-year-old girl. Prosecutors dropped the case in 2007, and he was never convicted.¹³

A separate federal lawsuit filed in 2008 alleged that he had molested a student identified as “T.T.” at Henry W. Longfellow Middle School. That case settled out of court in 2009.⁴ Around the same period, Wilcoxson was reportedly dismissed from his substitute teaching position after allegedly exposing himself to a female custodian.¹

The Rest of the Record

Wilcoxson’s arrests go back to his teenage years in Collier County, where he was charged at age 14 with armed robbery, aggravated battery, misdemeanor battery, and grand theft auto. While at Florida State University between 1997 and 2000, he faced charges for forgery, credit card fraud, petty theft, and criminal mischief. He took plea deals on the forgery and credit card fraud counts, was acquitted of petty theft, and saw the criminal mischief charge dropped.⁴

He was charged with battery in 2003 and again in 2013 without conviction in either case. A 2013 grand theft auto conviction, tied to issues with how Hertz had reported missing rental vehicles, was vacated in 2022.¹ In 2022, he was involved in a physical confrontation with a school board member’s husband at a Republican Executive Committee meeting; no charges were filed. His then-fiancée, Melissa Kamin, obtained a temporary restraining order against him in early 2022 alleging physical assault, then withdrew the petition that May.⁴ A 2023 temporary injunction for protection alleging physical abuse and stalking was later removed.

Because of vacated convictions and judges withholding adjudication on earlier charges, Wilcoxson’s record carries no standing convictions.

What Donalds Paid Him

Since 2021, Donalds paid Wilcoxson more than $300,000 in reimbursements and consulting fees.¹ Federal Election Commission records show that in the 2024 cycle alone, Wilcoxson received $134,226: roughly $123,656 from Byron Donalds for Congress across 49 payments, and $10,570 from the Byron Donalds Victory Fund across 5 payments.⁵ The most recent recorded payment was $8,227.51 in March 2025.

After the 2025 reporting, the Donalds campaign said Wilcoxson “doesn’t work for the gubernatorial campaign and this is nothing more than a desperate attack from the radical left,” and a spokesperson later confirmed he “is not a part of the 2026 team.”¹⁶ Wilcoxson said he was no longer consulting for Donalds and planned to focus on non-political matters, while adding that he would still vote for Donalds if he remained the conservative candidate.

Why He Matters in the 2026 Governor’s Race

Donald Trump endorsed Donalds for Florida governor in February 2025, and the Wilcoxson association quickly became a line of attack. Some Trump supporters privately raised concerns that Donalds had not been fully vetted before the endorsement, pointing to the Wilcoxson relationship as a question of judgment.¹

Lt. Gov. Jay Collins, Donalds’ Republican primary rival, has made Wilcoxson a centerpiece of his campaign. In April 2026, Collins released a 13-page opposition report on Donalds’ “liabilities” that featured Wilcoxson’s molestation charges and the roughly $134,000 Donalds continued paying him during the 2024 cycle after reports of his past had surfaced.³⁶

1
Yahoo News. MAGA Star Top Aide Launched Racial Rant
2
The Daily Beast. MAGA Star Byron Donalds’ Top Aide Larry Wilcoxson’s Racial Rant About Child Molesters
3
Florida Phoenix. Jay Collins Says Byron Donalds Is Not a Risk That We Can Afford to Take
4
The Blaze. Byron Donalds Pays Body Man With a Rap Sheet Using Campaign Cash
5
OpenSecrets. Campaign Expenditures – Wilcoxson, Larry
6
Miami Herald. Byron Donalds Florida Governor Race