Agriculture Commissioner Wilton Simpson, likely gearing up for a run for governor, is downplaying recent immigration insults from Gov. Ron DeSantis, opting to praise him instead at a Thursday event.
Simpson and DeSantis traded cordial praises at the Tampa event, where Simpson pleasantly introduced the "dedicated" governor before taking a seat by his side. DeSantis, for his part, noted that Florida's large budget surpluses began when Simpson was Senate President in 2021.
"Governor Ron DeSantis is a dedicated public servant, a family man, and someone who has worked tirelessly to make Florida the best state in the nation," Simpson said, dubbing him "America's governor" before calling him to the stage to kick off this year's Florida State Fair.
This marks a stark contrast from just last week, when DeSantis embarked on a statewide tour blasting Simpson as being weak on immigration and not fit to oversee deportation efforts, as the GOP-run Legislature had wanted. He accused the Agriculture Commissioner of being a "fox guarding the hen house," in an industry not traditionally tough on illegal immigration, while Simpson argued DeSantis was "attacking" farmers.
But Simpson only praised the governor at the Thursday event, potentially hinting at the attempt to smooth over relations ahead of his 2026 run for governor. According to early polls, Simpson significantly trails Rep. Byron Donalds in a head-to-head match-up, though no candidate has announced their candidacy yet.
This also follows DeSantis promising that he and the legislature have engaged in discussions to "land the plane" on their immigration rift.
The DeSantis-Simpson feud, though not new, was reinvigorated when GOP Lawmakers killed DeSantis's ten immigration bills in favor of their own, called the TRUMP Act. Among the 84-page bill's many provisions was crowning Simpson as the new Chief Immigration Officer instead of allowing DeSantis to appoint his own immigration czar.
The Legislature ultimately passed the bill despite DeSantis calling it "grotesque" and "toothless," insisting that Simpson heading up immigration efforts would end up sabotaging them altogether. In his budget proposals unveiled Sunday night, DeSantis asked for a $398 million cut to the Department of Agriculture's budget—nearly 13% of their current budget.
According to a report by the Tampa Bay Times, DeSantis in 2022 vetoed one of then-Senate President Simpson's key projects: over $300 million to acquire land for water projects and part of the $600 million to build a cancer research center in Simpson's home county. He did so with Simpson on stage next to him.
The next year, the governor vetoed a $100 million allocation to help farmers preserve their land from development—another Simpson priority. When DeSantis failed in the Iowa caucus in his presidential bid, Simpson noted that the governor should not have vetoed agriculture-centered projects.
"Karma's a bitch, isn't it?" Simpson said at the time.
