Top Trump ally Byron Donalds is talking about a possible run for Florida governor in 2026

Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Fla., appears increasingly vocal about running for Florida governor in 2026 in the race to succeed the term-limited Republican Governor Ron DeSantis.

Donalds, leading friend, ally and supporter President-elect Trump in the House of Representatives, has been telling potential donors and Florida political players in recent days that he intends to run for governor, Republican sources confirmed to Fox News.

Some of those conversations took place last weekend in Orlando at the Florida GOP’s annual meeting.

“He’s serious,” a source told Fox News.

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Another signal came a week ago when Donalds hired the research firm of Tony Fabrizio, a prominent Republican pollster. Fabrizio was a top pollster in Trump’s 2016 and 2024 presidential campaign.

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The conservative former state representative who represented parts of Southwest Florida’s 19th congressional district for four years has been mulling a potential run for governor for months.

“I’ve thought about it. I’m not ruling anything out,” said Donalds in an interview with Fox News Digital last spring when asked about a possible run for governor.

Donalds, who was Trump’s top campaign surrogate last year, was interviewed days after Trump suggested at a closed-door fundraiser in New York that if Donalds ran for governor of Florida in 2026, he would have “a lot of friends in races.”

“It’s really cool that people back home in Florida are considering me as the next governor of the state. It’s really an honor. It’s honestly surreal to think about because I’m 45 years old and my journey through politics has been really fruitful,” Donalds said at the time. really humbled and honored, but I just focus on doing the job that I have.”

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Another prominent Florida Republican believed to be considering a run is state Agriculture Commissioner Wilton Simpson, a former president of the state Senate.

And former Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., who was Trump’s first choice for attorney general in his second administration before dropping out amid controversy, has also said he is considering a run.

Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody was also thought to be considering a run to succeed DeSantis, her ally in Tallahassee, but the governor on Thursday named Moody to succeed Senator Marco RubioTrump’s nominee for secretary of state, who is likely to be one of the first choices in the president-elect’s cabinet to be confirmed by the Senate.

And Florida’s chief financial officer, Jimmy Patronis, who was also believed to be interested in a potential gubernatorial campaign, is considered a front-runner in this month’s special congressional election to fill Gaetz’s seat.

“With Moody going to the Senate, if he decides to run for governor, Donalds would be the clear favorite over Agriculture Commissioner Wilton Simpson, who is the choice of the Tallahassee establishment,” Fabrizio said. “We’ll see if the Tallahassee establishment wises up after betting and losing badly in 2010. [former two-term governor and current Sen.] Rick Scott and 2018 against Ron DeSantis.”

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With Florida, once a leading general election battleground, now solidly red, the looming battle for governor may be determined by who Trump, a Republican kingmaker in his adopted home state of Florida and across the country, could ultimately bring back.

But one should not discount any possible support of DeSantis in the race to succeed the governor.