Bonita Springs, Fla. – Exclusive – Republican Rep. Byron Donald launched a 2026 campaign for the governor of Florida, touting “This will take off.”
Donald’s prediction came in an exclusive interview with Fox News Digital, ahead of his rally in front of a crowd in his hometown, at his first campaign event in the 2026 bid.
The conservative lawmaker, who has represented Florida’s 19th Congressional District for four years in the southwestern part of the state, is currently the only major Republican to jump into the race to make the term limit GOP Gov. Ron Desantis a success.
Donald, a stubborn and ally of President Donald Trump, announced his candidacy a few days after landing the president’s support, when he appeared on Fox News’ “Hanity” late last month.
“We’re going to campaign hard and bring this to every part of Florida,” Donald pledged in his interview.
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Byron Donald, a Republican of Florida, will launch the 2026 Governor’s Campaign at a rally in Bonita Springs, Florida on March 28, 2025 (FOX News – Paul Steinhauser)
And pointing to Trump’s support, where the immeasurable grip on the GOP is stronger than ever, he emphasized, “Having his support, that’s great, I’m happy to have it.”
“And when he makes these choices, they tend to work well for his candidate,” Donald pointed out.
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The campaign event in Bonita Springs is due to acknowledging Florida first lady Casey de Santis is considering her own 2026 Republican governor’s run to take over her husband in Tallahassee.
DeSantis repeatedly promoted her wife’s achievements as Florida’s First Lady, framed her as a valuable successor.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and his wife, First Lady Casey DeSantis, celebrate their victory over Democratic gubernatorial candidate Charlie Crist at the election night watch party held at the Tampa Convention Center on November 8, 2022 in Tampa, Florida. (Octavio Jones/Getty Images)
Additionally, Casey DeSantis surprised speculation later last month when a reporter was asked if he would run.
“To quote the late Yogi Bella,” DeSantis said he repeated the famous line from the late baseball legend. “If you see a fork on the road, take it.”
The governor then told reporters, “You guys can read what you do.”
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When asked this month at the National Institute of Review Ideas Summit at the National Institute of Examination in National Harbor, Maryland, Casey DeSantis said, “We’ll see.”
Sources confirmed last month to Fox News that the governor was reaching out to donors on behalf of his wife.
Florida first lady Casey DeSantis was on Saturday, January 13, 2024 during a campaign event for her husband, Gov. Ron DeSantis, of Atlantic, Iowa.
Asked about the possibility of a showdown with Casey DeSantis, Donald said, “The race takes its own shape, so you’ll see what actually happens.”
“My mission is to focus on our future and what Florida needs to go, and to thrive and prosper for everyone, that will be my mission.
And Donald said he aims to communicate to voters, “I have a vision for their future and when they hear it, I think they’ll choose me.”
The deadline for cash submissions for the Florida governor’s next campaign in the race will take place in the midnight Monday, with sources on the lawmakers’ political trajectory predicting Fox News that Donald will “easily cover up” $1 million DeSantis as governor’s candidate in the successful 2018 campaign of Scott’s successful campaign.
“I think he’s trying to show you a really strong funding number,” said another Florida-based Republican strategist, who asked him to remain anonymous in order to speak more freely.
The protesters will be held in Bonita Springs, Florida, on March 28, 2025, Republican Rep. Byron Donald, 2026 Florida Governor Campaign Kickoff. (Fox News – Paulsteinhauser)
Outside a rally held at a restaurant and music venue in downtown Bonita Springs, dozens of demonstrators protested against the sweeping and controversial agenda of Donald and the Trump administration.
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Donald’s rally took place next week in a special congressional election in Florida amid concerns by the Capitol Hill White House and Republicans.
Voters from two Florida Congressional districts head to vote Tuesday. Republicans aim to control both solid red seats and give them a little room to breathe in the home.
The election took place in Florida’s 1st and 6th Congressional Districts, with Trump scoring 37 and 30 points in last year’s presidential election.
However, Democrat candidates have far surpassed Republican candidates, and recent votes suggest that the sixth district race is within the wrong range.
The GOP now has a 218-213 majority in the home, with two vacant seats where Republicans resigned, and two vacant seats where Democrats died in March.
“There are two races when it comes to Florida and they look good,” Trump told reporters Friday.
But pointing to the advantage of large-scale fundraising by Democrats over GOP candidates, Trump raised concerns, saying, “I don’t know what will happen in such a case.”
Donald predicted in a digital interview with Fox News that if he loses one of Tuesday’s elections it would be “difficult” for the majority of GOP House.
But he said, “I’m not looking forward to it. I think I’m going to win both seats on Tuesday, because Republican voters in those districts have clear choices at the end of the day.”
Florida’s chief financial officer, Jimmy Patronis, is preferred over Democrat Gay Barrymont in the multi-commands field of racing to fill the vacant lot at 1 CD, located on the far north corner of Florida in the Panhandle region.
Florida Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis is the Republican candidate in Tuesday’s special legislative election in the state’s first legislative district. (by Tiffany Tompkins/Bradenton Herald/Tribune News Service Getty Images)
Republican Matt Getz, who won a district reelection in the election last November, took office weeks after Trump was selected as the attorney general candidate in his second administration.
Gaetz later retracted himself from the consideration of the Cabinet in the debate.
But that was the race on the sixth CD. This is a race located on Florida’s Atlantic coast from Daytona Beach to just south of St. Augustine, on the outskirts of Ocala.
The race is to take over Republican Michael Waltz, who resigned from his seat on January 20th after Trump named him a national security adviser.
Republican Sen. Randy Fein is facing Democrat Josh Weil in the multinational field.
Florida State Rep. Randy Fein is a Republican from South Brevard County and runs in Tuesday’s special House election in the state’s Sixth Congressional District. (AP)
Weil has attracted the attention of many citizens in recent weeks by fines with almost 10-1 margins in campaign cash battles.
The cash discrepancy in the sixth CD race spurred an outside group that was aligned with GOP, making last-minute contributions to help fines on the campaign’s closing day, and a conservative super PAC launched the ads as it highlighted Trump’s fine support.
“If our candidates were to collect money at a faster rate and get it faster on TV, I would prefer,” North Carolina Rep. Richard Hudson told reporters earlier this week.
But Hudson added that the fine “is doing what he needs to do. He’s on TV now.”
He then emphasized, “We’re going to win the seat. I’m not worried at all.”
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Trump admitted on Friday that “our candidates don’t have that kind of money.”
In District 1, where there is less concern about Republicans losing their seats, Balimont broke through Patronis with a fundraiser with a margin of about 5-1.
Paul Steinhauser is a political reporter based in New Hampshire.
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