Gov. Ron DeSantis still hasn’t come close to naming a preferred successor, but Republican front-runner Byron Donalds says he expects the Governor’s support by the General Election.
“I believe that Governor DeSantis completely agrees with us about the next steps for Florida. And so I look forward to having his endorsement and being out there on the campaign trail with him,” Donalds said in an interview with Bloomberg.
The Governor has kept his distance since early 2025, when he said Donalds “hasn’t been a part of any of the victories that we’ve had here over the Left over these last years.” That line still gets traction, in part because DeSantis has declined to endorse anyone with less than four weeks left before the Aug. 18 Primary.
Donalds has led the field for the entire race and has repeatedly explained away the chill. He said previously that he was “not concerned” about the lack of an endorsement from a Governor still sore that Donalds backed Donald Trump in 2024’s Republican Presidential Primary.
DeSantis, for his part, keeps criticizing Donalds.
The Governor commented on Donalds’ recent concerns that fiscally constrained counties would be hurt by Amendment 3, the property tax measure on the Fall ballot that would raise the homestead exemption on non-school levies to $150,000 next year and $250,000 in 2028, with later increases tied to the consumer price index.
“I worry about taxpayers who local governments have overtaxed. Property tax revenue has nearly doubled for local governments this decade. The state has reduced its budget for 4 straight years — local governments can do the same. Floridians should not be taxed out of their homes!”
DeSantis also has excoriated the “ridiculous” lack of debates between the front-runner and the rest of the field as a “farce” that shuts voters out ahead of the Primary.
During the Bloomberg interview, Donalds again acknowledged that debates with Lt. Gov. Jay Collins, James Fishback, and Paul Renner would “probably not” happen, given his lead in the polls.
“These candidates, they’re still in single digits,” he said. “Why would I elevate you when you couldn’t elevate yourself?”
He has been more willing to share a stage with the other party. Donalds this week challenged likely Democratic nominee David Jolly to three debates this Fall.
In 2018, DeSantis and then-Gov. Rick Scott rarely appeared together on the campaign trail. Whether DeSantis flips the script and works to elect a successor Scott endorsed nearly a year ago is worth watching, especially given how this cycle has gone.
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