Florida first lady Casey DeSantis, the wife of Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL), hinted at a gubernatorial run in 2026.
Rep. Bryon Donalds (R-FL), whom President Donald Trump endorsed, already entered the race to be the Republican nominee in the state’s 2026 gubernatorial election. When asked by reporters Friday if she would consider running, Casey DeSantis did not rule it out.
“To quote the late, great Yogi Berra, ‘When you come to a fork in the road, take it,’” she told reporters at a press conference in Miami before turning the stage over to her husband.
“You guys can read into that what you want,” Ron DeSantis responded, adding, “I’ve had people coming up to me for years, begging to get her into the fray.”
Ron DeSantis is term-limited and therefore cannot run again in 2026, but he used his post to tout some of his wife’s accomplishments during his tenure. He pointed to Hope Florida, a state agency that connects those in need with churches and charities to assist them, as one example of her capabilities.
“This was her conception to do this,” the governor said.
Ron DeSantis remains popular in Florida, but so does Trump, and the two men have feuded in recent years. Trump was unhappy with Ron DeSantis when the governor unsuccessfully ran against him in the 2024 GOP presidential primary. When the governor announced his presidential run, Trump released a lengthy statement full of jabs at him.
“He desperately needs a personality transplant and, to the best of my knowledge, they are not medically available yet. A disloyal person!” Trump said of Ron DeSantis in 2023.
The pair seem to have put their differences aside, as Ron DeSantis stumped for Trump during his third run for president last year. However, the Florida governor cast doubt on whether Trump-endorsed Donalds’s record in Congress would boost his ability to win a statewide race. Donalds currently represents an R+29 district in Naples.
“He just hasn’t been a part of any of the victories that we’ve had here, over the Left, over these last years,” Ron DeSantis said of Donalds. “He’s been in other states, campaigning, doing that, and that’s fine, but OK, well then, deliver results up there.”
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Donalds and Ron DeSantis were longtime allies in Florida politics until Donalds endorsed Trump in the 2024 GOP primary.
Trump, meanwhile, offered his full support for Donalds’s candidacy calling him a “highly respected congressman” and a “TOTAL WINNER.”
