(Bloomberg) — Congressman Byron Donalds says he will run for governor of Florida, a move that comes less than a week after President Donald Trump offered the lawmaker a ringing endorsement.
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The move sets up another potential clash between Trump and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who is prevented by term limits from running again in 2026 and has instead touted his wife, Casey DeSantis, as a possible successor. The rivalry between Trump and Ron DeSantis led to a fractious and often personal fight for the Republican nomination in the last presidential election.
Donalds, in an interview with Fox News host Sean Hannity, played up Trump’s backing and pledged he wouldn’t let the president’s supporters down.
“I want to turn Florida into the financial hub of the world,” Donalds, who grew up in Brooklyn and was first elected to the US House in 2020, said in the interview, signaling plans to continue the aggressive courtship of financial firms who have flocked to the Sunshine State in recent years.
Donalds said the state should take a lead on cryptocurrency, adding he’d consider making it part of the state’s portfolio. He also pledged to stabilize insurance costs, saying Florida has an “insurance problem” that needs to be solved.
With Trump’s backing, Donalds starts his gubernatorial campaign in a strong position. Yet Casey DeSantis has long been considered a formidable candidate in her own right, were she to get into the race. A University of North Florida poll released earlier this month showed her with higher favorability ratings than any other potential Republican candidate.
While she hasn’t yet declared her intentions, Ron DeSantis earlier Tuesday told reporters that Florida’s first lady would be able to take his administration’s accomplishments to the next level, while adding Donalds hasn’t been part of his recent policy victories, the Associated Press reported.
Casey DeSantis was one of the governor’s top advisors in Tallahassee as he pushed through sweeping conservative policies that have defined Florida as a solidly red state and been embraced by Trump nationally.
DeSantis’s two terms have been defined by policies that ban or restrict diversity and equality programs, curtail teachings of race and gender, target Chinese influence and crack down on undocumented immigrants.
