Ron DeSantis ‘supportive’ as wife considers run for Florida governor in ’26, source says
Casey DeSantis, the wife of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, is “truly considering” a campaign to replace her term-limited husband, who “is supportive” of the idea, a person familiar with the situation told the Herald/Times.
No decision has been made about whether Florida’s first lady will run for governor in 2026, the source said. But her consideration raises the possibility that the DeSantis family won’t be leaving the Florida governor’s mansion in 2027 after all — adding a new wrinkle to political jockeying in Tallahassee, where high-level politicos are changing seats and the governor is feuding with the Republican leaders in the Legislature.
Already, news of Casey DeSantis’ interest in a run for governor — first reported by NBC — is threatening to disrupt the early stages of the 2026 governor’s race. A 2026 campaign with the governor’s wife on the ballot would place a quasi-incumbent in the race and create the potential for a proxy battle between Ron DeSantis and President Donald Trump, two Florida men who faced off in the 2024 Republican presidential primary.
Three potential candidates known or believed to be mulling Republican primary campaigns — U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds, a Naples Republican, Agriculture Commissioner Wilton Simpson and former Congressman Matt Gaetz — all have close relationships with the president.
Donalds, though, was on stage with the president during an inauguration day rally. The president introduced him to the crowd by remarking on “what a future this one has.”
Donalds endorsed Trump in his primary against Ron DeSantis after having a close relationship with the governor. Trump and the governor have since patched things up, but DeSantis and Donalds have not, the congressman said last month on the PBD podcast.
“I think that that relationship got frayed when I backed President Trump in the presidential primaries,” Donalds said.
The source told the Herald/Times that the governor “probably believes the first lady is the only person that can take on Donalds in a primary, unless Trump endorses him.”
These conversations come at a time of flux for the governor and Florida politics, with the governor facing term limits and set to leave office in January of 2027.
Ron DeSantis is currently looking to replace his lieutenant governor, who is leaving to run Florida International University, and recently named his chief of staff as Florida’s attorney general. The governor just appointed another close ally, former Attorney General Ashley Moody, to the U.S. Senate. At the same time, he has been feuding with the Republican Senate president and speaker of the House, who late last month rejected the governor’s proposed immigration legislation and worked with lawmakers to pass a different bill that would strip the governor of most his authority over issues involving immigration enforcement.
Ron DeSantis has not said whether he will run for president again in 2028, but if he did, having his wife as the chief executive of the third largest state in the country — and ground zero for modern Republican politics — would be an obvious benefit.
This story was originally published February 7, 2025 at 2:46 PM.