Florida is set to hold its next gubernatorial election in November of 2026, and Ron DeSantis is ineligible to run again due to Florida’s two consecutive term limit for governor. With Ron DeSantis termed out as Governor of Florida, the Republican Primary looks to be wide open. Currently, the following individuals have officially declared their candidacy for the Republican nomination:
- Mayor Charles Burkett of Surfside, Florida.
- US Representative Byron Donalds of Florida’s 19th congressional district.
- 19th district Florida State Representative Paul Renner, House Speaker and
However, we are still almost a year out from the August 2026 primary date and there is plenty of time for other candidates to declare. Florida’s Lieutenant Governor, Jay Collins, has also publicly expressed interest. As has Ron Desantis’ wife, Casey DeSantis.
In hypothetical polls, Casey DeSantis initially enjoyed a large lead. However, by mid July of this year, Rep. Donalds had nearly erased that lead, largely due to the preemptive endorsement of Donalds by President Trump back in February.
Now, in a head to head poll, Rep. Donalds leads all other competitors including Casey DeSantis by at least 30 points.
However, another contributing factor is the continuing scandal over allegations that Casey and Ron stole $10 million from Florida taxpayers.
Last September, a settlement was reached for a lawsuit against the insurer Centene for their overbilling of healthcare programs amidst allegations of Medicaid fraud. The settlement was meant to return $67 million dollars to Florida taxpayers. However, $10 million of that money was mysteriously routed to Casey Desantis’s Hope Florida Foundation, a “charity” meant to help with establishing economic self-sufficiency for Florida’s welfare recipients.
Governor DeSantis then went on to claim that this story was a lie, a fabricated story, and that the defendant insurer chose to make a $10 million dollar donation to his wife’s charity unrelated to the settlement. However, it was later made clear that the $10 million was given as part of an agreement with the state of Florida. What a massive conflict of interest.
Casey and Ron DeSantis essentially bilked the Florida taxpayer out of $10 million dollars, funnelling that money to a campaign run by DeSantis’ Chief of Staff James Uthmeier (who is now Attorney General) meant to stop marijuana legalization in Florida.
This level of blatant corruption is disgusting and unprecedented, and all coming from the “Republican” who just a short while ago ran against President Trump in the primary as a way of ‘restoring dignity’ to the party, and who accused the President of conducting himself in a disgraceful and corrupt manner.
Ron DeSantis is a massive hypocrite. His wife, Casey, will never be governor and should not bother humiliating herself by even running. Rep. Byron Donalds has Trump’s endorsement, and will likely win the primary, the general, and be a far better governor than either Ron was or Casey could ever be.
And even if he isn’t, at least he didn’t steal millions from taxpayers.
