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EXCLUSIVE: Rep. Byron Donalds, a rising GOP star from Florida, is exploring a run for chairman of the House Republican Conference.
Donalds, a first term lawmaker, told Fox News Digital he was weighing a run for the post during an interview at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Texas.
“It’s something I’m looking at,” said Donalds. “I’ve had a number of members come and star asking king of through the year and first I just kind of laughed it off, but people ask, and you start thinking about these things.”
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Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Fla., speaks to Fox News at CPAC 2022. (Fox News Digital)
Donalds said he has yet to make a decision on the race and was focused on helping Republicans win back the majority this November.
“In the House were going to have a great November, we’re going to take back the [speaker’s] gavel from Nancy Pelosi and get our country back on track,” he said. “If the members of the conference want me [to run] then we’ll see where it goes from there.”
Donalds has garnered significant attention since getting elected to Congress in 2020.
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., and Republican members criticize President Joe Biden and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on the close of the war in Afghanistan, during a news conference at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, Aug. 31, 2021. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
As a former Florida state representative, Donalds has proven to be a prolific fundraiser for national Republicans. In the past year and a half alone, the lawmaker has raised more than $4.5 million.
Donalds is also seen as strong messenger for Republicans, particularly on education. The Florida lawmaker told Fox News Digital that his priority for the Republican majority would be expanding school choice and restoring parental control to education.
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“My mother was a school choice mom before school choice was a thing,” said Donalds. “She had to make every sacrifice, so I could get the best education possible … we every parent should have the ability to choose where there child goes to school.”
“We need to get away from bureaucracies and get back to focusing on children.
A mother of children in the Los Angeles Unified School District joins members of Los Angeles Leftists for Choice and Unity as they held a rally against the LAUSD student COVID-19 vaccination mandate outside the Stanley Mosk Courthouse. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
GOP Rep. Elise Stefanik of New York is the current chair of the House Republican Conference and it remains to be determined if she plans to keep the position or depart.
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If elected, Donalds would be the highest ranking African American within the House GOP leadership in nearly 20 years.
