Donald Trump and Byron Donalds via Donalds’ congressional website.
A day after Donald Trump endorsed him for governor, Florida GOP U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds teased an audience at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Maryland on Friday by stating simply “stay tuned” about whether he will declare himself a candidate in 2026.
“It’s been an interesting 12 hours for me,” Donalds declared after hitting the stage at 3:15 p.m. during the annual conservative confab taking place this weekend about a half-hour drive from the nation’s capital.
The Southwest Florida lawmaker, 46, said he was attending an event in Naples on Thursday evening with Kentucky U.S. Rep. Andy Barr when his cellphone began ringing nonstop, with one of those calls coming from Trump.
The call came shortly after the president posted on his Truth Social page that “Byron Donalds would be a truly Great and Powerful Governor for Florida, and, should he decide to run, will have my Complete and Total Endorsement,” adding, “RUN, BYRON, RUN.”
“I just want to say, Mr. President, thank you. And I will never let you down,” Donalds said Friday, without elaborating.
On Thursday night, Donalds reposted Trump’s comments on X, declaring “President Trump is Making America Great Again. I’m committed to working with him to Keep Florida Great. Announcement coming soon!”
Polling lead
The president’s endorsement is hardly a surprise — Trump had posted the results of a poll earlier this week showing Donalds with a commanding lead in the ’26 race to succeed Ron DeSantis as governor of the Sunshine State. He was well ahead of Florida International University president Jeanette Nuñez, Agriculture Commissioner Wilton Simpson, and Miami Mayor Francis Suarez.
First Lady Casey DeSantis has also been mentioned as a potential candidate, but the poll didn’t ask about her.
Although Donalds didn’t say anything more about his potential candidacy, he did sound like he was warming up for the campaign trail when he heralded Florida as a beacon of individual liberty and limited government, and touted the efforts of Republicans such as DeSantis, Rick Scott, and members of the Florida Legislature who have made the state a utopia for conservatives.
“Florida’s not going to stop leading,” he declared. “We’re going to build up from what we’ve done and we’re going to continue to lead, bigger, better, faster, greater, safer, freer, because the American dream is for everybody and we’re going to show the other 49 states how to get it done.”
A month ago, NBC News reported that Donalds had already been informing donors that he was running for governor.
DeSantis’ role
If and when he does announce his candidacy, the question will then be who will challenge him in the Republican primary? DeSantis announced last month that he would restart the same political committee he formed last year to fight against Amendments 3 and 4 and turn its focus on the gubernatorial race. He is not considered personally or politically close anymore with Donalds.
“The FL Freedom Fund was instrumental in raising huge sums of $ to defeat Amendments 3 and 4 in 2024,” DeSantis said on X on Jan 30. “For the 2026 cycle, the FFF will raise even more resources (1) to ensure support for a strong conservative gubernatorial candidate and (2) to support strong conservative candidates in legislative primaries. We need to elect strong leaders who will build off FL’s success and who will deliver on the promises made to voters.”
Could Trump’s endorsement of Donalds — if in fact he ultimately does officially announce his candidacy — clear the field?
Miami-Dade state House Republican Juan Porras thinks so.
“@ByronDonalds is a proven conservative fighter who will put Florida first,” Porras posted on X Thursday night. “With President Trump’s endorsement, it sends a clear message that the influence of @RonDeSantis is not just waning, it’s officially nonexistent in FL for the upcoming election cycle.”
If Donalds runs and wins, he would become the first Black person elected governor in Florida.
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