Florida first lady Casey DeSantis stoked speculation that she could run for governor in 2026 during a press conference alongside her husband Gov. Ron DeSantis (R ) on Friday.
“Well, I would say one thing. To quote the late, great Yogi Berra, ‘when you come to a fork in the road, take,’” the first lady told reporters, eliciting laughter from the governor.
“You guys can read into that what you want,” the governor said. “I’ve had people coming up to me for years, begging to get her in the fray.”
“She’s passionate articulate, smart, she’s got rock solid values,” he continued, recounting a conversation he had with the late conservative talk show host Rush Limbaugh, who told him Casey DeSantis was more conservative than him.
The couple made the remarks at an event at the Florida International University Academic Health Center touting funding for cancer research. The first lady is a breast cancer survivor.
On Tuesday, Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.) became the first Republican to jump into the race. Donalds has the backing of President Trump, who formally endorsed him last week.
The governor and the congressman fell out during the 2024 Republican presidential primary when Donalds endorsed Trump over DeSantis. They also had friction over state education guidelines set by DeSantis on African American history in 2023.
The governor initially had now-Sen. Ashley Moody (R-Fla.) in mind to be his successor, but instead tapped her to replace now-Secretary of State Marco Rubio in the Senate.
Now with the first lady considering a run, there appears to be the potential for a Trump versus DeSantis proxy battle in the gubernatorial primary.
Donalds pushed back on the notion of a proxy battle this week, telling The Hill “it’s too soon for all of that.”
“Let’s see what happens,” the congressman said. “The response from people in my state has been very, very good. I’m very happy with it.”
“I’m not sure how the whole primary is going to shape up,” he added.
