House Speaker Johnson endorses Rep Donalds for next Florida governor

On Thursday, House Speaker Mike Johnson backed Florida GOP Rep. Byron Donalds for Florida governor in 2026, adding to Donalds's list of high-profile endorsements, including President Trump. 

Donalds has strong support throughout the MAGA world, which appears to have limited the Republican primary field to just one other candidate – Charles Burkett, four-term mayor of Surfside.

"Byron Donalds is a principled conservative leader who Floridians can trust as their next governor," Johnson told Politico. "In Congress, Byron has been tenacious in standing up for Florida and President Trump’s America First agenda. I have no doubt he will bring that same fighting spirit with him as governor."

Others who have endorsed Donalds include Donald Trump Jr. and Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk.

In one of his endorsement posts on Truth Social, Trump called Donalds a "total winner" who can advance the America First agenda.

"I know Byron well, have seen him tested at the highest and most difficult levels, and he is a TOTAL WINNER!" Trump wrote. "Byron Donalds would be a truly great and powerful governor for Florida, and should he decide to run, he will have my complete and total endorsement. RUN, BYRON, RUN!"

On March 2, Donalds suggested he was the right man for the job because Trump-endorsed candidates "have always worked out for the Sunshine State."

Donalds also suggested on March 30 that there is a "pretty good" chance that Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis would endorse him as his replacement. 

"A lot depends on what’s going to happen over the next couple of months," he said during the Fox News appearance, adding that his conservative Republican political ideology aligns with the political beliefs of DeSantis.

So far, DeSantis has only indirectly promoted his wife, Florida first lady Casey DeSantis, as a potential candidate. He has highlighted his wife's work in cancer research and behavioral health and criticized Donalds, saying he didn't accomplish much as a politician.

“All these people are chattering about her running. And what I said was, you know ... she’s never angled for anything, right? Because that’s just not who she is,” DeSantis said while speaking to reporters last month. “But I will tell you this: she would do better than me. Like, there’s no question about that.”

Casey DeSantis has not announced a run but recently teased about the possibility of one at a public event in Miami.

“When you come to a fork in the road, take it,” she said, quoting baseball legend Yogi Berra.

Aubrey Jewett, an associate professor and associate director at the University of Central Florida's School of Politics, Security and International Affairs, told Just the News in February that Donalds has a higher chance of winning the election because Trump endorsed him.

However, he also said that the governor's wife, a breast cancer survivor, may win the primary because she is well known throughout the state. He added that her lack of political experience could help her because voters could see what they wanted to see in her as a candidate.

"So while Donalds is the frontrunner, Casey DeSantis is certainly still competitive," Jewett said.

He praised Donalds for not reacting to the governor's negative comments about him because he'll likely need DeSantis's support to win the Republican primary and the general election. 

Some news outlets suggested that the 2026 Republican gubernatorial race in Florida could become a proxy battle between DeSantis and President Donald Trump. Donalds told The Hill newspaper that "it’s too soon for all of that."

Meanwhile, Trump appears to have helped clear the field for Daniels by having endorsed Florida's Chief Financial Officer, Jimmy Patronis, for the open House seat that he won Tuesday night, amid speculation that he would run for governor. 

The seat was previously occupied by GOP Rep. Matt Gaetz, who has said he might run for governor. Gaetz resigned from the seat in a failed bid to become attorney general.

Jewett doubts Gaetz will run despite being relatively popular among Florida Republicans, saying he suffered "some damage from the congressional ethics investigation and his subsequent withdrawal from being Trump's Attorney General nominee," 

"Gaetz seems like more of a long-shot than Donalds or Casey DeSantis," he also said.

Among Florida Democrats who have expressed interest in running for the seat are Fentrice Driskell, the Florida House minority leader, and state Senate Minority Leader Jason Pizzo. 

Former Republican Florida Rep. David Jolly, whose anti-Trump rhetoric resulted in him leaving the Republican Party, also expressed interest in running, stating that he is unsure if he would run as a Democrat.

None of the politicians officially announced if they would run to replace the current governor.