Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in Tampa on Feb. 24, 2025. (Photo by Mitch Perry/Florida Phoenix)
Days after Donald Trump endorsed Southwest Florida U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds for governor, Ron DeSantis made it clear on Monday that he’s not likely to get behind that effort.
Instead, the governor gave some of his strongest words of support to date for someone who could become his choice for 2026 — his wife, First Lady Casey DeSantis, who has never held elective office.
Speaking in Tampa while unveiling his plan for a Florida version of the federal Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) program in Washington, DeSantis was asked about Trump’s endorsement last week of Donalds, the 46-year-old GOP Congress member from Naples who was just re-elected to a third term in November.
The governor said all he wants from any member of Congress right now is to focus on passing Trump’s legislative agenda. With Republicans holding such a narrow majority in the U.S. House of Representatives, it just isn’t “advisable” to begin a campaign that could see Donalds spending more time in Florida than Washington.
“The reality is, we’ve achieved victories in Florida. We need to start achieving those victories up there,” the governor said.
“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 few years. He’s just not been a part of it. He’s been in other states campaigning and doing that. And that’s fine, but okay, then deliver results up there. That’s what I want to see. I want to see them delivering results for the people of Florida. We deliver here all the time for the people of Florida, and that’s what we need to be doing.”
Before being elected to Congress in 2020, Donalds spent four years in the Florida House, the last two coinciding with DeSantis’ first two years as governor. Although the two were considered allies at that time, their relationship appeared to change after Donalds endorsed Trump over DeSantis for president in 2023 and became a major surrogate for the Trump campaign.
‘She would do better than me’
DeSantis repeated that he intends to raise campaign contributions for the Republican gubernatorial candidate of his choice in 2026 — and, without saying that she was a candidate, began to praise Casey DeSantis, the governor’s close political confidante.
Noting his 19-point re-election victory over Democrat Charlie Crist in 2022, which catapulted him into becoming a contender for the 2024 presidential race, DeSantis said that, should Casey run, “She would do better than me.”
“There’s no question about it,” he said. “That would happen. And she’s someone who has the intestinal fortitude and the dedication of conservative principles that you know, anything that we’ve accomplished, that she’d be able to take to the next level.”
DeSantis recounted an anecdote from a dinner in Palm Beach County a few years ago between himself, Casey, and former conservative icon Rush Limbaugh (who died in 2021).
“At the end of the dinner he put his finger in my chest and said. ‘The only person I would rather have as my governor than you is her.’ And he pointed to [Casey]. And I was like, ‘That’s a pretty good endorsement there.’”
In a recent University of North Florida survey about potential candidates in Florida’s 2026 gubernatorial race, Casey DeSantis received the highest approval ratings, with 30% reporting a favorable opinion (57% among Republicans) – better than Donalds or former U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz, now-U.S. Sen. Ashley Moody, or Florida Department of Agriculture Commissioner Wilton Simpson.
However, another poll of likely Republican voters released last month showed Donalds with a dominant lead in the race. The Victory Insight survey did not list Casey DeSantis as one of the potential GOP candidates.
Donalds, it should be noted, has not declared as a candidate for governor in 2026. He told the audience at the CPAC convention in Maryland on Friday simply to “stay tuned,” adding on NewsNation later that evening that while he appreciated the president’s support, he was not yet ready to make any announcement.
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