Posted on 02/17/2025 1:18:53 PM PST by DFG
President Donald Trump is continuing to drop hints about who he wants to succeed Ron DeSantis as Florida’s Governor. And it’s not Florida’s First Lady.
In a new Truth Social post, Donald Trump spotlighted a January poll, first covered by Florida Politics, showing U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds with a massive lead over a hypothetical field of Republican opponents in the August 2026 Primary.
Victory Insights, a firm with an office in Naples, shows more than 31% of likely Florida Republican Primary voters prefer Donalds when pitted against three other contenders. Lt. Gov. Jeanette Nuñez comes in a distant second with 4% support. Agriculture Commissioner Wilton Simpson polls at 3%. Miami Mayor Francis Suarez shows with just 1%.
At a New York City fundraiser last year, Trump suggested Donalds might be a good fit, saying that if he ran for Governor, he’d have “many friends in the race.”
And that poll shows it, albeit with a significant caveat. The survey omits one potential candidate with major name recognition: First Lady Casey DeSantis.
Donalds has been coy about a potential run, including saying “we’ll see what happens” when he was asked about a still-hypothetical clash with the former Jacksonville newscaster who has become the most prominent and powerful First Lady in Florida history.
Yet polls that have included Casey DeSantis have shown her ahead of the field.
Per a June polling memo from Florida Atlantic University, she leads a field of candidates with 43% support, ahead of Donalds at 19%, with Jimmy Patronis and Matt Gaetz further back still.
A poll conducted in April by FAU showed 38% of 372 Florida Republicans polled would choose the First Lady in a head-to-head race against Gaetz, who would receive 16% support in that scenario.
(Excerpt) Read more at floridapolitics.com ...
If Mrs. D’ has political ambitions, she should start smaller than the Governorship, especially for a very large, very popular state like Florida. Run for mayor first or congresswoman. Don’t just jump into the deep water at the beginning.
Love this guy. He is a banker and can REALLY talk abt the budget.
Trump supported Mark Robinson for governor of North Carolina. North Carolina elected a Democrat governor in 2024 after Robinson imploded.
Is his House seat safe to replace?
Agreed.
The Desantis family has, what, three children? One of them should be at home raising them. The children will be daycared and nanny raised if she does this and I'm not a fan. She doesn't have to work.
“One of them should be at home’.
Maybe that’s what happened with Ted Cruz’s ill mannered, bog mouthed younger daughter. Bitter from being left at home with the help. This young lady thinks nothing of insulting her father (Ted) or his political choices, as she speaks to the public or posts her little ‘darts’ of disrespect.
Worst Case scenario: That the gabby younger daughter will end up like Claudia (Kellyanne) Conway was in 2023. Although Claudia has been much quieter here lately.
I wasn’t aware of that story. Thanks for sharing.
We need him in the House.
I like him, but am a little leary because, when DeSantis was insisting cleaning up Florida education wrt teaching about slavery accurately, Donalds went with the left saying it was racist to do that. So how does Donalds feel about critical race theory?
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