Speaker Johnson backs Donalds for Florida governor
Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Fla.) backed Rep. Byron Donalds's (R-Fla.) bid for governor on Thursday, becoming the latest Republican to throw their support behind the congressman.
“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.”
Donalds already has the backing of President Trump, who publicly urged him to run for governor shortly before Donalds announced his bid in February. Last month, Florida Rep. Vern Buchanan (R-Fla.) became the first member of the state’s congressional delegation to back the congressman for governor.
Donalds formally kicked off his gubernatorial campaign last week at a launch rally in Bonita Springs, Fla. He is the first major Republican to enter the GOP primary for the governor’s mansion. On Tuesday, Donalds’s team announced he raised $12 million in the first 35 days of his campaign.
However, questions remain over whether Florida first lady Casey DeSantis will jump into the race. DeSantis and her husband, Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-Fla.) have repeatedly floated her as a potential candidate.
According, to a poll published last month by the University of North Florida’s Public Opinion Research Lab, 57 percent of registered Republicans said they had a favorable view of DeSantis. Donalds had a 27 percent favorability rating.
However, an internal poll from Donalds’s campaign pollster Fabrizio Lee and Associated released last week showed Donalds with a 34 percent to 30 percent lead over DeSantis.