GOP Rep. Byron Donald officially launched his Florida Governor’s campaign on Friday, and is being billed as a kick-off rally in his hometown.
For four years, the conservative lawmaker who represents Florida’s 19th Congressional District in the southwest of the state is now the only major Republican to jump into the 2026 race and take over the term restriction GOP Gov. Ron Desantis.
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.
Additionally, two Magazine World Rock stars, Donald Trump Jr., the president’s eldest son, and Charlie Kirk, a conservative activist and commentator who leads the powerful Turning Point USA youth organization, recorded a video of Donald’s campaign kick-off, sources told Fox News. Conservative commentator Benny Johnson speaks in person at the event.
First on FOX: Backing Donald of Florida
Rep. Byron Donald, a Republican from Florida (Aaron Schwartz/Bloomberg) at the Conservative Political Action Conference held in National Harbor, Maryland on Friday, February 21, 2025.
The campaign event in Bonita Springs is due to Florida’s first lady Casey de Santis acknowledging that she is considering the governor’s run in 2026 to take over her husband in Tallahassee.
“I think it’s a show of power that you’re watching. Whether the support and momentum that Brion is generating across the state, whether it’s fundraising or grassroots support, I told Fox News veteran Republican strategist and Florida native Stephen Lawson.
Byron Donald tells Fox News’ Lara Trump
Lawson – Adviser to DeSantis, former governor and current Senator Rick Scott, Tallahassee’s predecessor – stressing, “Along with President Trump’s support, Donald is the one to beat in this race.”
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.”
When Florida Governor’s race gets hot, Ron and Casey DeSantis tease with Trump
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.
The cash submission deadline for the Florida governor’s next campaign in the race is at the end of this weekend, with sources on the lawmaker’s political trajectory predicting Fox News that Donald will “easily cover up” $1 million DeSantis as a governor candidate in the successful 2018 campaign in 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.
Donald offers Governor DeSantis free of charge.
“We have a great governor,” Donald said last month in his “Hornity” interview. “Ron DeSantis has done an incredible job for our state, but now the job is to keep the best state in the country as the best state in the country.
Rep. Byron Donald will speak in one of the arenas in the capital on January 20, 2025 at President Donald Trump’s second inauguration event in Washington, DC (Reuters/Mike Segar)
A long-time GOP strategist at the Florida race said he thinks Donald is “really careful to be governor and Casey and Kumbaya. I think you’ve seen that from his message… he wants to build on a record of conservative success in Florida while building his own path.”
However, sources added that Donald used Friday’s campaign kickoff to “put down the markers and show that this is a race to win.”
An internal vote, which was launched earlier this month for Donald’s campaign, shows lawmakers framed Casey DeSantis in single digits in the hypothetical GOP primary showdown. However, the survey suggested that Donald’s lead had skyrocketed to over 20 points. Respondents notified that he is in favor of Trump.
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Florida was previously the country’s top general election battlefield state, but it has swayed dramatically to the right over the past few election cycles. Desantis scored nearly 20 points for his re-election in 2022, and Trump scored 13 points last November.
With Florida clearly a red state, the winner of the Republican gubernatorial primary will be considered a favorite in next year’s general election.
Paul Steinhauser is a political reporter based in New Hampshire.
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