Politics
Byron Donalds coy on potential 2026 showdown with Casey DeSantis
Trump likes him. But the First Lady would be formidable competition.
Does Rep. Byron Donalds want to be Governor?
If so, he didn’t confirm or deny it or go deep into his thoughts about a potential faceoff with Florida’s First Lady Casey DeSantis on the August 2026 Primary ballot, who is now a “very real” possibility as the logical successor to her husband as Governor
“Nobody’s in a race right now, so we’ll see what happens,” he said, deflecting a question about whether he wanted to run.
Donalds has been rebuffing questions on the topic for almost a year, saying on cable last spring he didn’t want to “break news” on the matter.
But he has one key player in his corner.
At a New York City fundraiser, President Donald Trump suggested Donalds might be a good fit, saying that if he ran for Governor, he’d have “many friends in the race.”
Polling has been conducted with Donalds’ name atop a field, but it’s old and questionable.
One survey that omitted then-Attorney General and current Sen. Ashley Moody and First Lady Casey DeSantis showed him ahead of other potential candidates.
Other polls tell a different tale, with Casey DeSantis leading.
Per a June polling memo from Florida Atlantic University, she leads a field of candidates with 43% support, ahead of Byron Donalds at 19%, with Jimmy Patronis and Matt Gaetz further back still.
A poll conducted in April by FAU showed 38% of 372 Florida Republicans polled would choose the First Lady in a head-to-head race against Gaetz, who would receive 16% support in that scenario.
A University of North Florida Public Opinion Research Lab survey from November 2023 showed the First Lady with 22% support, a lead in a crowded field of potential candidates.
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