Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis appears to be scrambling after President Donald Trump upended the state’s 2026 gubernatorial race and endorsed Florida Rep. Byron Donalds for the gig.
Throughout a scrum with reporters on Monday, DeSantis advised that Trump’s endorsement doesn’t imply the race is over. In actual fact, the Republican governor mentioned that his spouse, Casey DeSantis, could be a formidable candidate ought to she select to enter the race. (Neither Casey DeSantis nor Donalds has formally introduced their run, although Donalds just lately teased a future announcement.)
“She’s never angled for anything,” DeSantis advised reporters in Tampa, relating to his spouse. “But I will tell you this: You’re talking about somebody like her. I won by the biggest margin that any Republican’s won a governor’s race here in Florida. She would do better than me”
Republican Rep. Byron Donalds of Florida
DeSantis’s provocative insinuation that his spouse may win the state—and handily—comes days after Trump mentioned that Donalds was his most well-liked candidate for the 2026 race. DeSantis is term-limited and can depart workplace in January 2027.
Whereas Casey DeSantis has not but publicly mentioned she desires to run, her husband’s remarks made clear there’s an actual risk she may throw her hat within the ring.
Certainly, Trump’s endorsement gave the impression to be a direct shot on the DeSantis household. Final week, Trump inspired Donalds to run, saying the Florida man would have the president’s “Complete and Total Endorsement.”
“RUN, BYRON, RUN!” Trump wrote in a submit to Reality Social.
By providing endorsements (or near-endorsements) for candidates who aren’t formally within the race, Trump and DeSantis have arrange one more proxy struggle following their duel within the 2024 Republican presidential main. Whereas Trump simply fended off DeSantis in that contest, DeSantis may make one other run for the White Home in 2028. And it’d definitely be simpler for DeSantis to maintain the highlight on him if his spouse had been holding public workplace.
This isn’t the one current time DeSantis has been at odds with the president. Earlier this yr, DeSantis may’ve stuffed the U.S. Senate emptiness left by now-Secretary of State Marco Rubio with Trump’s daughter-in-law, Lara Trump, however DeSantis went one other route and appointed Florida Lawyer Common Ashley Moody.
DeSantis probably desires a say in who his successor might be since he’s promised to lift cash for “strong conservative candidates in legislative primaries,” based on The New York Occasions. He’s additionally advised that he’ll spend cash on behalf of his most well-liked candidate for governor, although he hasn’t named who that’s but, the outlet reported.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, left, squints as his spouse, Casey DeSantis, speaks at a marketing campaign occasion in Bluffton, South Carolina, on June 2, 2023.
DeSantis is true that his spouse would have a shot of profitable if she had been to enter the race. A survey printed final week by the College of North Florida’s Public Opinion Analysis Lab discovered that the state’s registered voters seen Casey DeSantis extra favorably than the 4 different potential Republican candidates for governor (Donalds, Moody, former Rep. Matt Gaetz, and Florida Commissioner of Agriculture Wilton Simpson.)
Plus, DeSantis most likely doesn’t need Donalds within the governor’s mansion. Although the 2 reportedly as soon as had a great skilled relationship, they clashed in 2023 over how the state’s center schoolers ought to be taught about Black historical past. Specifically, Donalds took subject with pointers, authorized by DeSantis, that acknowledged that college students ought to be knowledgeable about how Black individuals supposedly benefitted from slavery.
Extra just lately, Donalds endorsed Trump over DeSantis within the 2024 Republican presidential main.
Throughout Monday’s press convention, which was held in order that DeSantis may talk about the creation of Florida’s personal Division of Authorities Effectivity, the governor mentioned that Donalds hasn’t been a part of any of Florida’s “victories.”
“You got a guy like Byron, he just hasn’t been a part of any of the victories that we’ve had here over these last years,” DeSantis mentioned. “He’s just not been a part of it. He’s been in other states campaigning doing that, and that’s fine, but okay, well then deliver results up there.”
In the meantime, of his spouse, DeSantis mentioned that she has “the intestinal fortitude” and “dedication to conservative principles.”
He added, “Anything we’ve accomplished, she’d be able to take to the next level.”
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