DeSantis touted his wife as a staunch conservative who would build on his legacy and argued that the state’s first lady could pull in even more voters than he did.

That leaves Agriculture Commissioner Wilton Simpson, a Trilby Republican, as the last Florida Cabinet official still with potential to get in the governor’s race. He is a former Senate President who received Trump’s endorsement for his Agriculture Commissioner campaign in 2022.

In Congress, he’s been part of the ultraconservative Tea Party caucus. Highly thought of by Republican colleagues, he won a few votes in early 2023 to become speaker of the Florida House. Following Trump’s lead, Donalds in January introduced a bill to end taxes on tips.

Gov. Ron DeSantis is wading into the 2026 Governor’s race, taking shots at Donald Trump’s preferred candidate and boosting the First Lady as his logical successor.

Donalds, a rising star in the party who was once a contender for House speaker, is on the cusp of taking the big jump in his political career as a front-running contender to govern Trump’s adopted home state.

Who will be Florida's next governor? Several names have been mentioned, but one, Byron Donalds, has President Trump's support.

After roughly 17 minutes of boilerplate, Casey DeSantis delivered a dire warning about how Florida could become a “purple state” sooner than later, mirroring rhetoric from Gov. Ron DeSantis.

After President Donald Trump endorsed Congressman Byron Donalds for Florida governor, Ron DeSantis leveled criticisms at the president’s choice, and championed someone else: his wife, Casey

Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) isn’t rushing to lift up Rep. Byron Donalds (R-FL) as Florida’s next governor despite President Donald Trump’s recent preemptive endorsement of the congressman for 2026. DeSantis expressed doubt that Donalds should be looking at the gubernatorial race and encouraged him to focus on achieving legislative accomplishments with a slim Republican majority.