Ron DeSantis backs ‘fighter’ Anthony Aguirre over Donald Trump-endorsed opponent in HD 94

Gov. Ron DeSantis isn’t jumping on the MAGA train in House District 94. He’s backing businessman Anthony Aguirre over another Republican candidate whohas been racking up endorsements from notable Donald Trump supporters.

“Anthony Aguirre is a strong conservative who has my support and endorsement for the Florida House of Representatives, and I look forward to working with him in the Legislature,” DeSantis said in a statement.

“His opponent and her husband have donated money to Democrats like Hillary Clinton, Joe Biden and my former opponents, Andrew Gillum and Charlie Crist. Anthony will be a fighter for the values that we champion — lower taxes, law and order, and putting our families first.”

The opponent DeSantis referenced is Meg Weinberger, an animal rescue nonprofit executive and Chair of the Palm Beach chapter of Moms for Liberty. Her endorsements from Trump, Gus Bilirakis, Matt Gaetz, Brian Mast, Michael Flynn and Kari Lake, among others, earned her the nickname “MAGA Meg.”

Florida Division of Elections records show Weinberger indeed gave $2,000 to Gillum and his political committee, Forward Florida, in July 2018. In 2016, she donated to the Senate campaign of Democrat Michael Steinger. And in 2021, she chipped in $5,000 to the political committee of Democratic Melissa McKinlay, a former Palm Beach County Commissioner who at the time was mulling a run for Agriculture Commissioner.

Weinberger’s husband, Eric, gave $77,500 to Gillum’s 2018 campaign, $13,000 to Charlie Crist in 2013 and 2014, and $17,500 to the Florida Democratic Party through 2020.

While Eric Weinberger also gave $1,500 to Clinton in 2015 and $1,000 to Biden in 2019, the couple has also contributed amply to many Republicans — including more than $128,000 to Trump’s presidential campaign and more than $30,000 to DeSantis’ state-level political committee — over the years.

Aguirre has donated almost exclusively to Republicans, though state records show he chipped in $1,000 to Democratic state Rep. Hillary Cassel in 2021.

Other Republicans running for HD 94, which runs from West Palm Beach to Belle Glade’s agricultural areas, include college professor Christian Acosta, Palm Beach County Commission Chief of Staff Jon Carter, and entrepreneur Gabrielle Fox.

Former Palm Beach Gardens Mayor Rachelle Litt is the only Democrat in the contest.

In the last election, HD 94 voters supported DeSantis by 15 percentage points over Crist, according to MCI Maps elections data analyses.

But the area’s affinity for DeSantis doesn’t necessarily translate into a shoo-in for Trump-associated candidates. District data from 2020 showed Biden beat Trump by 1 percentage point.

Two years earlier, Gillum earned a 5-point lead over DeSantis there.

The Primary is on Aug. 20, followed by the General Election on Nov. 5.