Donalds Formally Enters Governor’s Race

By Jim Saunders, The News Service of Florida

TALLAHASSEE — After announcing his candidacy Tuesday night on Fox News, Florida Congressman Byron Donalds filed paperwork Wednesday to formally enter the 2026 race for governor.

Donalds, a Naples Republican, became the first major candidate to enter the race to succeed term-limited Gov. Ron DeSantis. Donalds made the move after receiving backing last week from President Donald Trump.

“I stand shoulder to shoulder with President Trump who’s ushering in the golden age of America and that effort starts in the states,” Donalds said in a prepared statement Wednesday. “Florida must continue to lead the way in education reform, economic opportunity, lowering costs for families, protecting public safety and in defending our God-given rights and freedoms. We will create a stronger, safer and more prosperous Florida with the freedom to live without liberal policies destroying our way of life.”

The paperwork, filed at the Florida Division of Elections, came after Donalds announced he would run while appearing on the “Hannity” show on Fox News. If elected, Donalds would become Florida’s first Black governor.

Trump, in a social-media post last week, wrote, “Donalds would be a truly great and powerful governor for Florida and, should he decide to run, will have my complete and total endorsement. Run, Byron, Run!”

Speculation has swirled for months about Donalds and other potential GOP gubernatorial candidates, including Florida First Lady Casey DeSantis, Agriculture Commissioner Wilton Simpson and former Congressman Matt Gaetz. Potential Democratic candidates include state Senate Minority Leader Jason Pizzo, D-Sunny Isles Beach.

Trump’s endorsement could give Donalds a major advantage in a Republican primary, though Ron DeSantis this week touted his wife and appeared to take a shot at Donalds.

“During an appearance Monday in Tampa, DeSantis said Congress needs to put Trump’s executive orders into law and that with the GOP holding a narrow advantage in the House, “trying to campaign other places and missing these votes, I think, is not something that’s advisable at all.”

“The reality is we’ve achieved victories in Florida. We need to start achieving those victories up there,” DeSantis said. “So I think people look at it and say, ‘You know you got a guy like Byron, he just hasn’t been a part of any of the victories that we’ve had here over the left over these last years.’ He’s just not been a part of it. He’s been in other states campaigning, doing that, and that’s fine. But deliver results up there.”

Donalds praised Ron DeSantis while on the Hannity show.

“We have a great governor. Ron DeSantis has done a tremendous job for our state,” Donalds said. “But now the job is to keep the best state in the country as the best state in the country, and so that’s going to be the mission at hand.”

Donalds served from 2016 to 2020 in the Florida House, before getting elected to Congress.