Term-limited Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has made clear the strategy to maintain his legacy in the state — and it doesn’t involve Trump-endorsed candidate Byron Donalds.
“You’ve got a guy like Byron, he just hasn’t been a part of any of the victories that we’ve had here,” DeSantis told reporters on Monday, the day before Donalds officially announced his plan to run.
More than a year out, the race is shaping up to be a test of who has more influence in Florida: DeSantis or President Donald Trump, who endorsed Donalds before the House member even entered the race. DeSantis has indicated he wants the next administration to be an extension of his own — maybe with his wife Casey DeSantis at the helm instead of the president’s pick.
“Ron’s ego is well-known. Ron believes that he himself is responsible for everything good that happens and not responsible for anything bad that happens,” one Florida Republican political consultant told NOTUS, requesting anonymity to speak freely. “He’s going to try to frame this as continuing his legacy, assuming Casey does get in, and he’ll try to tie Byron to D.C. dysfunction and we’ll see how that plays out.”
DeSantis did not respond to a request for comment, nor did Donalds or the White House.
The irony, the consultant added, was that DeSantis was in a very similar boat as Donalds when he mounted his run for governor. “If you replace Byron Donalds with Ron DeSantis in 2026 and 2018, he’s describing himself,” the Republican consultant said.
DeSantis was also a Florida congressman who helped build his national profile by campaigning for Trump. Seven years later, DeSantis is flipping the script, drawing a distinction between his policy wins in Florida and Trump’s in Washington.
Trump’s endorsement of Donalds came last Thursday evening, the same night Republican governors were meeting with the president. “I am hearing that Highly Respected Congressman Byron Donalds is considering running for Governor of Florida, a State that I love,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “I know Byron well, have seen him tested at the highest and most difficult levels, and he is a TOTAL WINNER!”
Donalds was mostly complimentary of DeSantis when he announced his gubernatorial bid on Tuesday evening. He lauded DeSantis’ political wins in the state, but added that it’s “time to now take the mantle and lead our state into the future.”
“The job is to keep the best state in the country as the best state in the country. And so that’s going to be the mission at hand,” he said on Fox News.
Donalds has some momentum in his favor. A week before he announced his run for governor, local Florida polls had him trouncing his primary opponents with 31% of a hypothetical vote. Trump’s endorsement has also helped legitimize Donalds’ candidacy, his congressional colleagues told NOTUS.
“This is going to be a race of Trump’s endorsement, DeSantis’ endorsement and how these two actually play on the campaign trail,” said Michael Binder, a Florida politics expert who runs public polls at the University of North Florida.
Binder said that Trump’s early endorsement was likely meant to bring in big donors and other backers.
“It’s always important to think about the relationship between King Trump and King DeSantis and the people that are involved in that,” Binder told NOTUS. “It’s boxing out other candidates, it’s locking up donors and if you can do that now,” maybe fewer Republican candidates will jump into the race.
Some of Donalds’ Republican colleagues are already lining up behind him.
“It’s unwise to not back Byron. He’s going to take this,” Rep. Brian Mast told NOTUS. “Byron had my full support months ago, even though it was not official.”
But DeSantis and his wife have also been making the rounds in Republican circles, encouraging donors not to throw in their support for Donalds, Politico reported.
During his Monday press conference, DeSantis insisted Florida could “revert” toward the left quickly if the next governor doesn’t maintain his track record — and digging up a years-old endorsement for his wife.
He said that the late conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh had told him early in his tenure as governor that “the only person that I’d rather have as my governor than you, is her.”
Florida Republicans in Congress haven’t openly lined up behind Casey DeSantis.
Rep. Cory Mills, who told NOTUS that he’s biased towards DeSantis and claimed DeSantis is “the best governor in America,” said he wouldn’t comment on the idea of DeSantis’ wife as governor because she hasn’t officially announced her candidacy.
“This could be one of those deals where the governor endorses one person and President Trump has obviously endorsed another, which, to be fair, you see this in a lot of races,” he said. “President Trump’s endorsement also throws a lot of people out of the race, because it is a very significant endorsement.”
“I know for a fact some of the best outcomes that I’ve ever received is when I’ve been challenged or I’ve challenged others — because you’re getting another perspective of things,” Mills added.
Most Florida Republicans on Capitol Hill said they’re not getting involved in the race for now.
“I think that the President and Representative Donalds have a great working relationship,” Rep. Kat Cammack told NOTUS. “I have a great working relationship with Donalds. He’s a good friend of mine and he’s always been a staunch conservative.”
Rep. Aaron Bean told NOTUS that while “it certainly — boy, it puts a lot of wind in your sails when President Trump endorses you,” he feels it’s too early to endorse anyone in the race.
“We hadn’t really looked at it yet. I’m going to be – because I’m a friendly guy, I’m friends with everybody and so we’ll look about what team to get on and join and whatnot,” Bean added.
Donalds said Tuesday that he plans to remain in the House while he campaigns for governor. He waved off DeSantis’ criticism that his time spent away from the House while on the campaign trail could jeopardize Republican legislative efforts.
“I’m not going anywhere,” he said.
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Claire Heddles and Tinashe Chingarande are NOTUS reporters and Allbritton Journalism Institute fellows.