HOMESTEAD, Fla. — Governor Ron DeSantis (R) held back his criticisms of Rep. Byron Donalds (R) on Wednesday after being asked by Blaze Media what he thought of the congressman officially entering the race for governor.
DeSantis was hosting a press event at Homestead Air Reserve Base near Miami to explain what the state is doing to help President Donald Trump’s plan to mass-deport the many illegal immigrants in the country. After much speculation and anticipation, Donalds announced his candidacy on Tuesday.
‘You have these elections, and then people start talking about new elections. Why don’t we actually get something done based on the previous election?’
“I want to focus today, not on the ’26 election, but on vindicating the ’24 election by showing that we’re going to get this job done here,” DeSantis replied.
“You have these elections, and then people start talking about new elections. Why don’t we actually get something done based on the previous election? And I think President Trump deserves all Republicans in particular to be supporting those efforts. That’s what we’re doing here,” he continued.
When DeSantis was asked about Donalds’ candidacy before Donalds joined the race, the governor was more pointed in what he thought about Donalds’ time in Congress, saying he had been missing in action on the recent victories to push GOP priorities in the state.
“[Donalds has] been in other states campaigning, doing that, and that’s fine, but okay, well, then deliver results up there. That’s what I want to see. I want to see them delivering results for the people of Florida,” DeSantis said. “I think a lot of people think somehow the battle’s been won and you don’t have to worry about it. We could revert very quickly. That could happen, 100%.”
When he announced his candidacy, Donalds said DeSantis had done a “tremendous job for our state, but now the job is to keep the best state in the country as the best state in the country.” Donalds maintains that the record he had when he was in the Florida state House proves he can push GOP legislation through.
DeSantis has signaled publicly that his wife, Casey, could be his successor since he is term-limited. If she does run for governor, it could set up another bruising primary between the DeSantis camp and team Trump, as the president has already endorsed Donalds for governor.
Politico reported that Donalds had more than $1.7 million in his congressional campaign account at the end of the year, which he could transfer to a state political committee for the race.
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