Florida Rep. Byron Donalds announced his campaign for governor Tuesday night, prompted by President Donald Trump urging him to run last week.
Donalds, a three-term Congressman representing Florida's 19th District, pointed to stabilizing surging insurance rates, taking the lead on cryptocurrency, and boosting education if elected to succeed current Gov. Ron DeSantis—who's both term-limited and critical of Donalds—during an interview with Fox News's Sean Hannity Tuesday evening.
"After a lot of prayer, after a lot of thought with my family and with my friends, I'm here to announce my candidacy to be the next Governor of the great state of Florida," Donalds said on Hannity, speaking during the 9:45 p.m. slot.
"The job is to keep the best state in the country, the best state in the country," he continued, praising DeSantis's leadership and acknowledging that while Florida First Lady Casey DeSantis has been floated as a possible contender for the 2026 race, he's endorsed by Trump and the "only person in this race right now."
Donalds, 46, made the official announcement just four days after Trump took to social media to implore the Florida Congressman to run, calling him a potentially "Great and Powerful Governor" who would have "my Complete and Total Endorsement."
Trump's social media post, unprecedented 18 months ahead of the Republican primary, came hours after The Floridian first reported that DeSantis was gearing up for a meeting with Trump to dissuade him from endorsing Donalds. He hoped Trump would consider First Lady DeSantis instead.
Trump chose otherwise, selecting a candidate DeSantis hasn't had a relationship with for the past year and a half. On Monday, DeSantis trashed Donalds for lacking "victories over the left" in Florida before touting his wife's "dedication to conservatism" and ability to win more votes than he did in a Republican primary.
Donalds and DeSantis weren't always on the outs. In the neck-and-neck 2018 gubernatorial race, Donalds helped DeSantis with debate prep ahead of his razor-thin win over Democrat Andrew Gillum. He later spoke at DeSantis's 2022 reelection party and defended the governor after an embarrassing debate prep video leaked a year later.
But things changed in mid-2023.
DeSantis passed a slew of controversial legislation as he prepared for his presidential bid, including a law requiring middle schoolers to learn that enslaved people developed skills that could sometimes be "applied for their personal benefit." Donalds, the only Black Republican in Florida's congressional delegation, called it "wrong."
Firing back, DeSantis' spokespeople, known for their aggressive defense of the governor online, accused Donalds of being a fake conservative.
Donalds served in the Florida House of Representatives from 2016 to 2020 before he ran for CD 19 in 2021. He's represented the Southwest Florida area since then, and just won reelection to his third term in November.
He is the most well-known candidate in the 2026 gubernatorial race so far, joining 12 other names. Other prospective Republican candidates include former Rep. Matt Gaetz, Agriculture Commissioner Wilton Simpson, and First Lady DeSantis. The primary will be in August 2026.
