WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — The 2026 Florida governor’s race is already heating up as U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds — who’s backed by President Donald Trump — opens his marketing campaign Friday night with a rally in his hometown of Bonita Springs in southwest Florida.
Donalds’ marketing campaign cease at Sugarshack, a reside music venue and restaurant in downtown Bonita Springs, comes a month after he officially announced his run to exchange Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, whose time period is expiring.
To this point, Donalds, 46, has no main challenger within the Republican main. However DeSantis had hinted beforehand that his spouse, Casey DeSantis, can be a worthy candidate to proceed his administration’s legacy.
DeSantis and his spouse have visited South Florida to see Trump for the reason that Donalds announcement. In addition they performed golf with Trump in early March on the Trump Worldwide Golf Course.
For Donalds, the subsequent step is to start securing endorsements amongst Florida legislators and the state’s congressional delegation, lots of whom are shut allies of DeSantis.
Any Republican who joins the race after might face hurdles to find Republican donors to again them since Donalds has secured Trump’s endorsement. Trump’s endorsement in different gubernatorial and congressional races has been proven to have large affect in serving to elect candidates, together with DeSantis in 2018.
Apart from Casey DeSantis, potential GOP candidates embody former U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz, who mentioned in January that he was contemplating a run, and Agriculture Commissioner Wilton Simpson, who sparred with the governor over immigration insurance policies earlier this 12 months.
Donalds might not have a whole lot of title recognition throughout Florida, however he has been a staunch Trump ally.
He’s a Republican from Brooklyn, New York, who now lives in Naples along with his spouse and three sons. He was elected in 2020 to the U.S. Home, and he’s a part of the conservative congressional Tea Social gathering caucus and is extremely regarded by Republican colleagues in his circle. He was additionally on a brief record of individuals thought of to be Trump’s vice presidential running mate final 12 months.
