Curses, foiled again! Our ambitious Florida Governor and former St. Johns County Congressman, RONALD DION DeSANTIS, now has serious Republican opposition for his plan: Rep. Byron Donalds has now filed to run for Governor. DeSANTIS's planned to make his spouse, former television news broadcaster CASEY DeSANTIS, the next Governor. Those plans were exploded when DJT attacked her and endorsed Rep. Byron Donalds. From Politico:
Trump just blew up Ron DeSantis’ succession plans
Now DeSantis, who has arguably risen to become the most powerful governor in Florida history, may leave office without someone determined to preserve his legacy.
TALLAHASSEE, Florida — Gov. Ron DeSantis and first lady Casey DeSantis had a message for donors and other important Republican backers over the last few weeks: Don’t throw your support to Rep. Byron Donalds, because Casey DeSantis was seriously considering jumping into the 2026 race for governor.
That message was upended last Thursday night with a single social media post by President Donald Trump emphatically endorsing Donalds. And Trump’s decision may have also derailed an effort to preserve Gov. DeSantis’ conservative legacy ahead of another potential presidential run.
Three Republican operatives and consultants, who were granted anonymity to disclose details of the effort to promote Casey DeSantis, said the governor made calls requesting people hold off on support for the congressmember to donors and potential Donalds boosters — including some who showed up on a social media post in which Trump touted a poll showing Donalds leading among potential GOP candidates. (That poll did not include Casey DeSantis.)
Two of the Republicans said that both the governor and the first lady were planning on meeting with Trump to discuss the governor’s race during a planned visit late last week to Washington with other governors. It is not clear whether the proposed meeting, which was first reported by conservative news website The Floridian, took place, though the two did attend Saturday’s dinner with governors at the White House.
Now DeSantis, who has arguably risen to become the most powerful governor in Florida history, may leave office without an anointed heir dedicated to preserving DeSantis’ efforts in a wide array of legislative and policy battles. During his six years in office, he became a conservative star as he pushed back against Covid-19 protocols and leapt into political fights over gender and racial identity.
But DeSantis on Monday at a Tampa press conference criticized Donalds when asked about the endorsement. He suggested Donalds needed to focus on helping Trump in Congress and that Donalds “just hasn’t been part of any of the victories we have had over the left the last few years.” The governor also predicted that if Casey DeSantis were to run for governor, she would win by a larger margin than he did in 2022.
Some longtime allies of Trump said whoever the president supports is destined to win in a state that is now firmly Republican.
"Trump is going to decide the elections in Florida in 2026,” said state Sen. Joe Gruters (R-Sarasota). “He controls the party, he controls the state — and there’s nothing that anybody can do to change that.”
Personal injury lawyer Dan Newlin, a donor who Trump named as ambassador to Colombia, described Donalds as someone who’d shown “unwavering dedication” to the president’s election and predicted a “significant victory.” He didn’t get calls from DeSantis about the 2026 race, but called them a “significant political mistake.”
One of the three GOP operatives said this about Donalds: “I think he’s the nominee until someone comes up with a way to dethrone him.”
Donalds, who once was close to DeSantis, has not officially entered the race but appears likely to do so very soon. During a Friday afternoon appearance at the Conservative Political Action Conference, Donalds lauded both Gov. DeSantis and former Gov. Rick Scott, adding that “Florida is not going to stop leading.” He then said to “stay tuned” about his own future plans.
The Trump endorsement now puts the sitting governor and first lady in an awkward spot — although at least one operative said Casey DeSantis may run anyway.
Lobbyists and donors in Tallahassee had already seen Casey DeSantis as a “beautiful, elegant solution” to the question of who would replace Ron DeSantis as governor, said a Florida Republican consultant, also granted anonymity to relay private conversations. Another GOP consultant argued that Casey DeSantis — who had launched several high-profile initiatives including one called Hope Florida — already had a record rivaling that of other governors.
1 comment:
You're bound to lose eventually if you get in bed with a crook from New York City, in this case, one Donald J Trump. He just has to have the spotlight all to himself and he will dump anyone who his eye catches in the spotlight. DeSantis should have taken more measures to differentiate himself and not mentioned Trump at all. Trump is still a burning train wreck regardless of whether or not he got reelected.
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