Rep. Bryon Donalds leads Florida governor race with Trump support

Rep. Bryon Donalds, a MAGA champion and one of President Donald Trump’s top allies in the House, is on a roll as he runs to succeed term-limited Gov. Ron DeSantis as Florida’s next governor.

With more than ten months until next year’s elections, the three-term Republican representative from a red-leaning district in southwest Florida is sitting on a massive war chest and far ahead of his Republican Party primary rivals in the latest public opinion poll.

But Donalds takes “nothing for granted.”

“I’ve been all over the state, non-stop. We’re running a very strong campaign. The people of Florida have been very receptive to my message and the ideas that we’re bringing to this campaign,” Donalds noted in an interview last week with Fox News Digital in his congressional office in the nation’s capital.

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Republican Rep. Byron Donalds of Florida is interviewed by Fox News Digital before the kickoff of his 2026 campaign for governor, in Bonita Springs, Florida, March 28, 2025. (Paul Steinhauser/Fox News)

Donalds was endorsed by Trump in February, before he even officially launched his campaign for governor.

While giving Donald a big boost, the president’s support hasn’t stopped other Republicans from entering the GOP primary race.

Former Florida House Speaker Paul Renner launched his bid in September, and late last month, investor James Fishback, who had generated buzz in the MAGA world earlier this year before taking on top Trump advisers, also entered the race.

And Florida Lt. Gov. Jay Collins, a former Green Beret and Army veteran, is mulling a candidacy.

But Donalds remains the overwhelming favorite.

“People want to show up. They want to show up. That’s good, but we’re focused on our race, and that’s reaching out to voters. I’ve been to 41 counties doing political events. I’ve been to 50 counties, when you consider fundraisers and political events,” Donalds pointed out.

Donalds said he was “very honored to have the support of President Trump. Now I have to go county by county, city by city to gain the approval and support of the people of our state.”

Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida, seen speaking February 5, 2025 in Miami, is term-limited and cannot seek re-election in 2026. (AP/Rebecca Blackwell)

DeSantis remains mum on the race to succeed him, not supporting Donalds or any of the other contenders, who earlier this year also included for a time his wife, first lady Casey DeSantis.

Donalds was once a close ally of the governor, but their relationship soured when Donalds supported Trump for president over DeSantis in the race for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination.

“It’s getting better,” Donalds said when Fox News Digital asked him about his relationship with the governor. “But at the end of the day, it’s about the trajectory of our state. I would love to win the support of Governor DeSantis in this campaign, but at the end of the day, we’re going to take all the hard work that he’s done for our state, and it’s been tremendous, we’re going to take that work and we’re going to build on it, and that’s what matters.”

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Democrats will likely have a competitive primary between Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings and former Rep. David Jolly, a Republican turned Democrat. But in the battleground state of Florida gone red, most of the attention is focused on Republicans.

Dan Eberhart, a Florida-based oil drilling CEO and prominent Republican donor who has raised big money for Trump and DeSantis this decade and who is also in Donald’s political orbit, told Fox News Digital, “Donald’s MAGA credentials and fundraising prowess put him in charge” in the GOP primary.

Eberhart noted that “Donald having a primary will make him a better candidate in the general election” and stressed that the congressman is “doing whatever it takes to win both the primary and the general election.”

Rep. Byron Donalds shakes hands with then-former President Donald Trump during the Moms for Liberty national summit June 30, 2023, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)

Trump and the Republicans highlighted rising prices as they scored major victories in 2024, taking back the White House and Senate and retaining their majority in the House.

But as inflation remains persistent, Democrats have focused on the issue of affordability this year, which fueled their decisive victories in last month’s election. 2025 elections and their outperformance this year in a series of special elections.

And this election saw a decline in MAGA voter turnout, with Trump not on the ballot.

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“Are the Democrats motivated? Very good,” Donalds responded when asked about the Democrats’ energy. “We’re going to make sure that Republican voters go to the polls, because at the end of the day, the people of Florida love the trajectory that Governor DeSantis has set. We’re going to maintain that trajectory, we’re going to build on it, and take Florida to a whole new level.”

And specifically highlighting affordability, Donalds predicted: “Over the next year, you’re going to see a lot of these economic changes, decisions made by the President of the United States, having real impacts on the lives of the American people. Positive impacts.”

But the Democratic Governors Association (DGA) argued that “whether in Washington DC or Tallahassee, Byron Donalds spent his political career helping to make Florida the least affordable state in the country.”

“Whether it’s supporting rate increases or voting to increase the cost of everything from health care to housing, Byron Donalds is one of the architects of the affordability crisis that is devastating Florida families,” DGA spokesperson Kevin Donohoe charged in a statement to Fox News Digital.

And referring to this month’s Miami mayoral election, where Democrats won for the first time in a quarter-century, Donohoe said “Miami’s mayoral race showed that Florida voters are looking for change — but Byron Donalds would simply deliver more of the same.”

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Asked about the results in Miami, Donalds said, “I recognize what happened in the city of Miami, but it’s not going to happen in the state of Florida.” »

“Florida is going to continue to be a red state, because the people of Florida know what conservative policies they want to continue. This is the best state in the entire country, and we’re not going to stop there,” he added.