Former President Donald Trump is bringing on key Florida Republican operatives, including some who used to work for opponent Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL), in an attempt to drive the governor from the race before it reaches the Sunshine State.
Trump’s campaign hired Brian Hughes on Friday, a veteran Republican operative, to become Florida director. Hughes has ties to DeSantis, working on his first campaign for Congress back in 2012, but has not worked on any of his other campaigns. Hughes isn’t the only hire who has been in DeSantis’s orbit previously.
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One of Trump’s top Florida advisers, Susie Wiles, also worked for DeSantis and helped him win the governor’s race in 2018. However, Wiles and DeSantis had a falling out after she went to work for Trump in 2020, and DeSantis allies insisted that she leaked information at the governor’s expense, according to the New York Times.
Trump’s team has done extensive research on DeSantis, who has been seen as his No. 1 challenger for the Republican nomination. The former president is set to attend the Iowa State Fair on Saturday with an entourage of Florida guests seemingly meant to get under the skin of the former president’s top rival in the GOP presidential primary: the nine Florida Republicans who snubbed DeSantis by endorsing Trump for president.
The lawmakers who will accompany Trump are Reps. Gus Bilirakis (R-FL), Byron Donalds (R-FL), Matt Gaetz (R-FL), Carlos Gimenez (R-FL), Brian Mast (R-FL), Cory Mills (R-FL), Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL), Greg Steube (R-FL), and Mike Waltz (R-FL), the Des Moines Register reported. The move could take media attention away from DeSantis’s own messaging while he attends the state fair.
Some GOP members of the House delegation feel burned by DeSantis, specifically those who served alongside him when he was the congressman from the 6th Congressional District. Many described him as a loner who built few relationships on Capitol Hill. After he was elected governor, some on Capitol Hill described being hopeful about building a relationship with Florida’s chief executive, but that never happened.
“I think the way I’d describe Gov. DeSantis is transactional. He is only out for himself, and that has rubbed many of my colleagues and myself the wrong way,” said a Florida Republican who endorsed Trump but requested anonymity back in April.
Aides who work with Republicans in the delegation have previously reported they found it difficult to get the governor on the phone to discuss important matters in their districts.
Steube said DeSantis has never reached out to him in the five years he has served despite his trying to connect with the Florida governor, according to Politico.
He recalled a news conference on the damage caused by Hurricane Ian at which the governor’s team invited him to stand with DeSantis but then reversed course and told him he wouldn’t be a part of the event when he arrived.
The congressman contrasted that with Trump, who was the first call he received when he was in the ICU after he was injured in a tree-trimming accident at the beginning of the year.
While some Florida Republicans are eager to take sides, some are staying neutral. Florida Republican Party Chairman Christian Ziegler has offered praise for both Trump and DeSantis. Sens. Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Rick Scott (R-FL) also have not offered any endorsements either.
Florida-based GOP strategist Ford O’Connell, speaking to the Washington Examiner earlier this year, predicted the Trump campaign would continue to pursue former DeSantis allies, with more defections in his own backyard.
“When your calling card is Florida like it is for Ron, and your folks are defecting in your own backyard, that’s never a good sign,” O’Connell said in April.
“They know what they’re doing. They know what the focus is, and they know that they want to freeze him out,” O’Connell added.
Trump remains the leading candidate in the Republican 2024 nominating race, according to polling nationally and in Iowa. A New York Times-Siena College poll showed Trump at 44% support among Iowa Republicans, while DeSantis is at 20% support, a 24-point gap. All other rivals poll in the single digits. On the campaign trail, Trump repeatedly brags about his poll numbers and his sizable polling advantage over DeSantis.
