Gubernatorial candidate Byron Donalds hasn’t gotten Ron DeSantis to endorse him yet, but the current Congressman described a time when the Governor wanted him for a job he was unable to secure.
During an interview with podcaster Katie Miller, the Naples Republican described the “humbling” experience of DeSantis wanting him to helm the Republican Party of Florida, which did not come to pass.
“When Governor DeSantis was elected back in 2018, we had a conversation and he asked if I’d be interested in becoming state party Chairman of Florida,” Donalds said.
“And I said, okay, I think that’s something I could definitely do to help the party and help him to be successful. And I had to run in my local county to become the Chairman of the local executive committee in order to be eligible to be voted on to become party Chair for the state of Florida. I lost the election.”
Ultimately, Sen. Joe Gruters, who chairs the Republican National Committee, became state Chair from 2019 to 2023, replacing the now-DeSantis-appointed CFO Blaise Ingoglia. Like Donalds, Gruters is a Trump loyalist.
Donalds said that his relationship with DeSantis was “frayed” last April, given that the Congressman endorsed Trump for President over DeSantis.
For his part, DeSantis has questioned Donalds’ ideological purity.
“You got a guy like Byron Donalds, he just hasn’t been a part of any of the victories that we’ve had here over the Left over these last years. He’s just not been a part of it,” DeSantis said in February of last year.
DeSantis hasn’t endorsed anyone in the race for Governor. Donalds is the prohibitive front-runner at this point, way ahead in polls and fundraising. First Lady Casey DeSantis had teased a run, but time is running out to launch, especially against a Trump-backed candidate.
