TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — As Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis approaches the top of his second time period in workplace, he’s speaking up one potential inheritor to succeed him in 2026: his spouse, Casey DeSantis. And he is taking a shot at President Donald Trump ‘s choose to be the subsequent governor.
Questioned by reporters in Tampa on Monday, DeSantis touted his spouse as a staunch conservative who would construct on his legacy and argued that the state’s first woman may pull in much more voters than he did. DeSantis received a dominant reelection victory in 2022 with a virtually 20-point margin.
“She’s any person that has, I feel, the intestinal fortitude and the dedication to conservative rules,” DeSantis mentioned of his spouse. “Something we’ve achieved, she’d be capable of take to the subsequent degree.”
The feedback got here days after the president threw his help behind U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds, a Florida Republican who has been a outstanding surrogate for Trump on the marketing campaign path and cable information.
“We’ve achieved victories in Florida,” DeSantis mentioned Monday. “A man like Byron, he simply hasn’t been part of any of the victories that we’ve had right here over the left over these final years.”
DeSantis’ feedback create a possible faceoff between the Republican governor and the president who soundly defeated him final yr for the Republican presidential nomination. DeSantis, who’s term-limited, might run for president once more in 2028 and has labored to rebuild his relationship with Trump.
The aspirations of the state’s first woman have lengthy been the topic of Tallahassee parlor speak. That chatter has grown louder in latest weeks as tensions have bubbled between the governor and Trump’s allies within the Florida Legislature.
“Byron Donalds could be a really Nice and Highly effective Governor for Florida and, ought to he determine to run, could have my Full and Complete Endorsement,” Trump wrote Thursday on social media. “RUN, BYRON, RUN!”
Donalds’ workplace didn’t instantly reply to requests for remark. He addressed the Conservative Political Motion Convention final week after Trump’s publish and instructed the viewers to “keep tuned” about his future plans.
Former U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz, one other staunch Trump ally, criticized DeSantis’ feedback in a publish on X, previously Twitter.
“Man it hurts me to see this,” Gaetz mentioned. “Governor DeSantis, don’t you keep in mind once you, (Donalds) and I have been working collaboratively to get you elected in 2018? We actually have been your debate prep staff.”
___ Kate Payne is a corps member for The Related Press/Report for America Statehouse Information Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit nationwide service program that locations journalists in native newsrooms to report on undercovered points.
