The News Service of Florida reports that Gov. Ron DeSantis on Monday touted the conservative credentials of First Lady Casey DeSantis while raising questions about Congressman Bryon Donalds, a Naples Republican who was backed last week by President Donald Trump for a possible 2026 gubernatorial bid.
Casey DeSantis and Donalds have not announced plans to run for governor, but both are regularly discussed among potential candidates. During an appearance Monday in Tampa, DeSantis said Congress needs to put Trump’s executive orders into law and that with the GOP holding a narrow advantage in the House, “trying to campaign other places and missing these votes, I think, is not something that’s advisable at all.”
- The governor added, “The reality is we’ve achieved victories in Florida. We need to start achieving those victories up there. So I think people look at it and say, ‘You know you got a guy like Byron, he just hasn’t been a part of any of the victories that we’ve had here over the left over these last years.’ He’s just not been a part of it. He’s been in other states campaigning, doing that, and that’s fine. But deliver results up there.”
BACKGROUND: Trump posted Thursday on Truth Social that “Donalds would be a truly great and powerful governor for Florida and, should he decide to run, will have my complete and total endorsement. Run, Byron, Run!”
- Appearing Friday at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference in Maryland, Donalds said to “stay tuned.”
Meanwhile, DeSantis said “there’s no question” the first lady would have out-performed DeSantis in the 2022 gubernatorial election, where “I won by the biggest margin that any Republican has ever won a governor’s race here in Florida.” DeSantis, in September 2018, resigned early from his congressional seat as he campaigned for governor.
Matt Gaetz went after DeSantis on X:
Man, it hurts me to see this Governor (Ron) DeSantis. Don’t you remember when you, @ByronDonalds, and I were working collaboratively to get you elected in 2018? We were your debate prep team. And then, we worked together under your excellent leadership during your wildly successful transition into power.
You and I even tried to muscle Byron into the chairman of the Republican Party of Florida, we thought so highly of him. He only didn’t get that job because he came up a little short running for Collier Co party Chair. Byron is going to miss some votes running for Governor. You missed some too when you ran as a Congressman. I missed some too campaigning alongside you, and I wouldn’t change that for anything.