Ron DeSantis says Casey ‘not seeking’ term as Governor … but it’s ‘flattering’ people keep mentioning it.

Is a DeSantis dynasty imminent?

Not so fast, says Florida’s Governor, though he notes it’s “flattering” that it’s being discussed after reportage that First Lady Casey DeSantis is being talked up as a “very real” possibility as the logical successor to her husband as Governor, there may not be fresh polling.

“She’s a force of nature. I think people look at it, they say, ‘Well, the Governor won by 20 points. Obviously Casey would do better because she’s so much better’, but it’s not something that she’s seeking out,” Gov. Ron DeSantis said on the Ingraham Angle.

He believes that “a lot of people are just concerned about the future of the state,” which drives speculation.

“But this is not anything new,” he added. “People have been asking her to do this for a long time, but she’s not seeking to do anything. But it’s flattering that people are asking her to do it.”

Fresh reporting from Matt Dixon of NBC News says differently, with a “source familiar with her thinking” suggesting it’s a possibility.

“I would say this: I have heard donors have been urging her to run and that while it’s not something she has wanted to do, they are causing her to at least stop and listen,” Dixon cites his source.

Gov. DeSantis paints his wife as more ideologically pure than he is, which won’t stifle speculation.

“She’s one of the rare political spouses,” he told Ingraham. “Even though I’m probably the most conservative Governor in the country, she may even be more conservative than me.

Give the Governor credit for consistency: He said in May that if he “had to hypothesize her interest in getting into the political thicket as a candidate,” he would “characterize it as zero.”

That said, polls show Florida Republicans have more than “zero” interest in the DeSantis family remaining in the Governor’s Mansion.

Per a June polling memo from Florida Atlantic University, she leads a field of candidates with 43% support, ahead of Byron Donalds at 19%, with Jimmy Patronis and Matt Gaetz further back still.

A poll conducted in April by FAU showed 38% of 372 Florida Republicans polled would choose the First Lady in a head-to-head race against Gaetz, who would receive 16% support in that scenario.

A University of North Florida Public Opinion Research Lab survey from November 2023 showed the First Lady with 22% support, a lead in a crowded field of potential candidates.

While she previously acknowledged the talk is “humbling,” she also maintains that the seeming enthusiasm for her running is due to her “rock star” husband and the job he’s done as the state’s Chief Executive.

However, the buzz isn’t quieting, and the race will start to get real after Sine Die, so decision time is nigh for the former newscaster in the Jacksonville market.