TAMPA, Fla. \u2014 The 2024 elections are still months from being decided. But for some in Florida, 2026 is already here.<\/p>\n
With Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis set to be termed out of office in January 2027, the field of potential gubernatorial candidates is taking shape, with some of Florida\u2019s most powerful figures jockeying for position.<\/p>\n
Several Republicans rumored to be eyeing the governor\u2019s mansion, including U.S. Reps. Matt Gaetz, Michael Waltz and Byron Donalds, have made recent appearances at former President Donald Trump\u2019s criminal trial in New York. Trump\u2019s endorsement in 2018 helped propel DeSantis\u2019 candidacy, and the Mar-a-Lago resident\u2019s grip on the party shows no signs of slipping. Any GOP candidate hoping to do well in Florida will likely need to win Trump\u2019s approval \u2014 or at least avoid his scorn.<\/p>\n
A few Democrats are also being mentioned in discussions about how the party could disrupt the decadeslong streak of Republican leadership in Tallahassee.<\/p>\n
The last time the governor\u2019s race didn\u2019t include an incumbent was 2018, when Rick Scott was nearing the end of his two terms. At this point in that cycle, few would have predicted the rise of then-U.S. Rep. DeSantis.<\/p>\n
With so much time until voters cast ballots \u2014 and a presidential election coming in November of this year \u2014 most of those thought to be interested in the governor\u2019s race are staying mum. No major-party candidate has filed to run.<\/p>\n
But here\u2019s what the field could look like, listed in alphabetical order by party \u2014 plus a couple of wild cards.<\/p>\n
Republicans<\/p>\n
U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds<\/p>\n
Donalds\u2019 name has been floated for governor, but he is also being talked about as a possible Trump running mate. The 45-year-old Collier County Republican rose to prominence during the tea party wave of the early 2010s. In 2023, as Republicans struggled to elect a leader in Washington, Donalds earned a few votes from conservative colleagues to be the speaker of the House.<\/p>\n
Earlier this month, Donalds reportedly got a special shout-out from Trump at a Manhattan fundraiser. The former president asked Donalds then whether he was running for governor in 2026, according to Politico.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s what I hear,\u201d Donalds reportedly replied. A Donalds spokesperson did not respond to questions about a potential run.<\/p>\n
Donalds\u2019 congressional campaign committee has about $1.3 million on hand.<\/p>\n
U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz<\/p>\n
In part because he\u2019s one of Trump\u2019s most loyal foot soldiers, Gaetz likely has the name recognition to compete in a statewide race.<\/p>\n
When asked about a potential statewide run, Gaetz, 42, left the door open.<\/p>\n
\u201cPresident Trump keeps telling my wife she\u2019d make a great First Lady of Florida. I keep telling him my only political focus is his re-election,\u201d the Pensacola-area Republican wrote in an emailed statement. \u201cWithout that, we don\u2019t have a country.\u201d<\/p>\n
Before November 2026 rolls around, the four-term U.S. representative will have to navigate an ethics investigation into his alleged relationship with a minor. Gaetz has denied any wrongdoing in that episode; in 2023, the Justice Department closed a criminal case into Gaetz without charging him.<\/p>\n
Gaetz\u2019s congressional campaign committee is sitting on about $2.1 million \u2014 likely more than enough to carry him in a deep-red congressional district. However, in 2020, Gaetz vowed to no longer accept donations from federal political action committees, saying that he would not be bought by special interests. Florida, home to numerous local television markets, is an expensive state to win. Would Gaetz\u2019s pledge apply to Florida corporations and interest groups in a potential statewide run?<\/p>\n
Attorney General Ashley Moody<\/p>\n
Moody, 49, who\u2019s finishing her second term as attorney general, has proven that she can win a statewide election. The Republican has been a thorn in Biden\u2019s side as attorney general, having sued the White House over numerous policies. She often appears at news conferences with DeSantis.<\/p>\n
Perhaps her most notable moment in office was a display of loyalty to Trump. In December 2020, she endorsed a lawsuit hoping to overturn the result of the 2020 election that Trump lost. A lawyer in her office called that lawsuit \u201cbats–t insane,\u201d but Moody has defended the litigation, saying she would have liked the Supreme Court to weigh in on the suit. The court declined to hear the case.<\/p>\n
In a statement, a spokesperson did not say whether Moody intended to run.<\/p>\n
\u201cAttorney General Moody is incredibly focused on her job protecting Florida communities, ensuring our state can pursue common-sense policies without interference from Washington, and fiercely guarding individual rights,\u201d the spokesperson said.<\/p>\n
Moody\u2019s main campaign committee is sitting on nearly $4 million.<\/p>\n
Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis<\/p>\n
If loyalty to Trump is the main criterion in a Republican primary, the state\u2019s twice-elected chief financial officer is trying to stand out. In recent months, Patronis backed a bill in the Legislature that would have provided public funding for the former president\u2019s legal defense. He criticized Trump\u2019s New York trial, calling it \u201cstupid.\u201d And he wrote to Trump, inviting him to claim $54,000 of unclaimed money found in Trump\u2019s name.<\/p>\n
With two statewide victories under his belt, Patronis, 52, could well have a shot at the governor\u2019s mansion.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe CFO wants to keep serving the state of Florida,\u201d a political spokesperson for Patronis said in a statement. \u201cHe\u2019s an experienced business owner and he is a relentless problem-solver.\u201d<\/p>\n
Campaign committees controlled by Patronis have at least a combined $7.3 million on hand.<\/p>\n
Agriculture Commissioner Wilton Simpson<\/p>\n
Simpson, who became agriculture commissioner in 2023, has numerous conservative policy achievements he can point to in a Republican primary. He served as the president of the Florida Senate during the 2021 and 2022 legislative sessions, during which time the Legislature banned coronavirus vaccine mandates and passed a 15-week abortion ban.<\/p>\n
However, he has had a rocky relationship with DeSantis at times, as evidenced by the governor\u2019s moves to veto some of Simpson\u2019s pet budget projects. A spokesperson for Simpson did not respond to requests for comment.<\/p>\n
Simpson, 57, an egg farmer, is worth about $21 million, according to financial disclosure forms. Various political committees he controls are sitting on more than $18 million combined.<\/p>\n
U.S. Rep. Michael Waltz<\/p>\n
Waltz, 50, who represents a large district north of Orlando, is less well-known than Gaetz or Donalds, but he has been raising his national profile. The day he appeared at Trump\u2019s criminal trial in New York, Waltz appeared alongside Gaetz on the Fox News program \u201cHannity\u201d to discuss what they saw in the courtroom.<\/p>\n
Like Gaetz, Waltz seems to have the approval of Trump. In a recent Axios story, Trump said of Waltz, a former Green Beret: \u201cWhen I want to know about the military, I call him.\u201d<\/p>\n
In a March interview with WFTV, Waltz appeared to be mulling a 2026 run for governor.<\/p>\n
\u201cI joke a little bit that we\u2019ve had two Navy governors, in Rick Scott and Ron DeSantis. Maybe it\u2019s time for some Army boots up there,\u201d Waltz said, before adding that he\u2019s focused on his 2024 House reelection campaign for now.<\/p>\n
Waltz is untested on a stage as big as a statewide Florida election. His congressional campaign committee has about $1.5 million on hand.<\/p>\n
Democrats<\/p>\n
State House minority leader Fentrice Driskell<\/p>\n
Driskell, the Democratic leader in the state House, has seen her party badly outnumbered in Tallahassee. But from her post, she\u2019s had a platform to speak out against Republican legislative priorities like abortion bans and expansions of school voucher programs.<\/p>\n
The 45-year-old Harvard-educated attorney is considering a run in 2026, she told the Times in a statement. But first, she wants to help her party win back a few House seats.<\/p>\n
\u201cFloridians are looking for elected leaders who will listen to them and who have basic human empathy,\u201d Driskell said. \u201cWhen people ask me to run for governor, I used to think, \u2018That\u2019s nice.\u2019 Now, after my time in Florida politics, I think, \u2018Maybe I have to.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
Nikki Fried, leader of the Florida Democratic Party<\/p>\n
The chairperson of the Florida Democratic Party ran for governor in 2022. Could she give it another shot in 2026?<\/p>\n
\u201cNo time for that right now,\u201d Fried wrote in a text message in response to a question about her 2026 plans.<\/p>\n
Fried\u2019s focus may be on 2024, but President Joe Biden wants her to give the governor\u2019s mansion a try someday. When he visited Tampa in April, he told Fried \u2014 and reporters \u2014 as much.<\/p>\n
\u201cNikki\u2019s doing a hell of a job as your state chairman,\u201d Biden said with Fried standing beside him. \u201cI made her promise she\u2019s going to run again.\u201d<\/p>\n
Fried, 46, the state\u2019s former agriculture commissioner, is the only Democrat to have won statewide in the past decade. But her first run for governor ended in a 24-point loss to Charlie Crist in the Democratic primary.<\/p>\n
Democratic state Sen. Shevrin Jones<\/p>\n
Jones, 40, a vocal Democratic state senator from the Miami area, is seen as a rising star in his party. However, he\u2019s also untested on the statewide stage.<\/p>\n
In a statement, Jones said he is focused on getting Democrats elected in 2024.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen it comes to next cycle and beyond, I will look at all options and go as far as the people will take me,\u201d Jones said in a statement. \u201cI believe it is premature to plan for three Novembers from now when the one just around the corner will shape our communities and shared future for years to come.\u201d<\/p>\n
U.S. Rep. Jared Moskowitz<\/p>\n
There\u2019s trying to raise your national profile, and then there\u2019s what Democratic U.S. Rep. Jared Moskowitz, 43, has been doing for the last few months.<\/p>\n
In March, Moskowitz showed up to a House Oversight and Accountability Committee hearing on Hunter Biden\u2019s business dealings wearing a Vladimir Putin mask.<\/p>\n
Moskowitz has trolled some of the more progressive members of his own party, too. In April, when Moskowitz visited Columbia University, he compared the anti-Israel protests on that campus to the white nationalists who protested in Charlottesville in 2017. He also got into a minor online beef over Israel with Democratic colleagues Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York.<\/p>\n
In May, the Broward-area representative reportedly sent voters in his district a mailer criticizing Biden\u2019s handling of the U.S.-Mexico border.<\/p>\n
Amid all this, Moskowitz, a first-term U.S. representative who served in DeSantis\u2019 administration from 2019 until 2021, has signaled he is open to a 2026 run for governor. In an increasingly red state, Moskowitz seems to be attempting to appeal to the state\u2019s more moderate voters.<\/p>\n
\u201cRight now, the Congressman is focused on his re-election as a congressman,\u201d a Moskowitz spokesperson said. \u201cFor a Democrat to win they will have to show they can work across the aisle.\u201d<\/p>\n
Moskowitz\u2019s congressional campaign account has about $600,000 on hand.<\/p>\n
Democratic state Sen. Jason Pizzo<\/p>\n
Pizzo, a South Florida state senator, often speaks out against Republican priorities in the state Senate. He\u2019s also tried to show he\u2019s a team player for his party. In 2022, when he didn\u2019t have an opponent running against him, a political committee chaired by Pizzo donated nearly $700,000 to Democratic causes around the state.<\/p>\n
In October, he told the outlet Florida Politics that he would run if Gaetz runs.<\/p>\n
Pizzo, 48, is worth more than $60 million, according to financial disclosure forms he\u2019s filed with the state.<\/p>\n
Pizzo did not respond to questions about the next governor\u2019s race.<\/p>\n
Big-name wild cards<\/p>\n
Florida first lady Casey DeSantis<\/p>\n
Some polls say she\u2019d be a contender for governor in 2026. But her husband, Ron DeSantis, has said Florida\u2019s first lady is not interested.<\/p>\n
U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio<\/p>\n
Rubio, 52, is reportedly a contender to be Trump\u2019s vice president. Even if he loses out on that job, he could serve in a different high-profile role in the next potential Trump administration.<\/p>\n
But were Rubio to decide he\u2019d like some executive experience, he\u2019d be formidable in any Republican gubernatorial primary. A spokesperson did not respond to requests for comment.<\/p>\n
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