January 1, Florida GOP Faces High-Stakes Showdown

Wyatt’s Take

• Rep. Byron Donalds leads race to replace DeSantis as Florida governor.
• Trump backs Donalds, but DeSantis has yet to endorse anyone.
• Tensions simmer as rumors swirl about new challengers and scandals.

Florida is heating up as Rep. Byron Donalds, with Trump’s backing, looks poised to take the governor’s seat from outgoing Gov. Ron DeSantis. While Donalds has a clear advantage, the race is far from settled, with DeSantis refusing to reveal his pick and whispers that Lt. Gov. Jay Collins might jump in with the governor’s blessing.

Folks in Tallahassee are watching closely because DeSantis doesn’t seem eager to hand the reins to Donalds. Rumors swirl that DeSantis is urging lobbyists to withhold support from Donalds, raising questions about party unity.

“I know DeSantis is still coming to grips with the idea that Byron can be the nominee, because I’m talking to donors, and DeSantis is just point-blank trashing him to donors … just nasty stuff,” a source involved in Florida politics said.

Relations soured after Donalds endorsed Trump in 2024 and criticized Florida’s school standards. As soon as Trump threw his support to Donalds, the tension between camps spiked, especially with speculation that Casey DeSantis, the governor’s wife, might run herself.

But scandal hit. Casey DeSantis’s charity got caught up in a grand jury investigation, with money meant for charity allegedly funneled to a political group. Collins, the current lieutenant governor, has stood up for the organization during the controversy.

With the Casey DeSantis rumors dying down, Donalds has tightened his grip on Republican support by showing up at every local event and catching plenty of TV time. Meanwhile, frustration has grown among Republicans tired of DeSantis’s tough style and lack of cooperation.

“Byron has been very quietly raising a lot of things, working his ass off,” a local political source said. “The strategy that he’s playing is he is hitting every single Lincoln Day dinner in the state, and he is just locking down that Republican base, and his visibility, I mean, he’s on Fox News at least once a week.”

Trump has gone out of his way to show his full support for Donalds, underlining the deep divisions brewing in Florida’s Republican circles as the next election approaches.

If the party can’t mend fences soon, this battle could have big effects for conservatives across the country.

Full story here

Wyatt Matters

This fight shows how important unity and clear leadership are in times of real change. With so much at stake for families and jobs, Middle America is watching—and hoping politicians put people first instead of their own power games.