A.G. Gancarski
As First Lady Casey DeSantis continues running the clock while deciding her next move, a potential opponent in the Governor’s race is running full speed ahead.
“In terms of anybody else running, I’m not waiting for anybody,” said U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds on CBN News.
“I have the support of President Donald Trump. I have the support of Sen. Rick Scott. I have the support of most of the Republican congressional delegation. And we’re picking up steam every single day. I’ve been crisscrossing the state nonstop for the last six weeks, except when I’m here doing my job here in Washington. And we’re going to keep going, keep running hard. We’ll see what happens with anybody else. But when I get into these kinds of competitions, campaigns, no stone is left unturned.”
The defiant words from the Naples Republican come as polling from the James Madison Institute shows a margin-of-error race.
The JMI survey results show 1 point separating the two.
Meanwhile, the First Lady has been in the news for unwelcome reasons, related to $10 million from a Medicaid settlement that went into the Hope Florida Foundation, the charitable arm of the Hope Florida initiative that DeSantis has spearheaded in recent years.
Gov. Ron DeSantis has said attempts to link the First Lady to money — which he calls a “cherry on top” for a larger settlement with the state — that was moved to political committees in 2024 that had nothing to do with the state’s Medicaid program are a way to “smear” her.
The $10 million donation from Centene, Florida’s largest Medicaid contractor, stemmed from a 2023 settlement with the state for $67 million as a result of overbilling.
Centene wired the $10 million to the Hope Florida Foundation.
That money was then sent out by the Foundation and split between Save Our Society from Drugs and Secure Florida’s Future.
Those groups poured millions into the campaign to oppose a statewide amendment seeking to legalize recreational marijuana.
The Governor’s then-Chief of Staff James Uthmeier chaired the political committee, Keep Florida Clean, that received the bulk of the money.
Uthmeier said the money was a “sweetener.”
The optics of the situation have made the DeSantis administration look like political operators, forcing them and allies to defend a process that may be legal but invites scrutiny all the same.
The Governor has urged people to “stay tuned” until the end of the Legislative Session regarding his wife’s potential candidacy. But with the budget hanging in suspense for weeks to come, time is slipping away as Donalds consolidates support.
2 comments
R Russell
May 9, 2025 at 9:53 am
Duh, say what! The so called Leadership of the GOP is going full Woke adopting the DEI approach, gotta have the Minority lead the 3rd largest state, that is the minority, as Caucasians and Hispanics outnumber Blacks. Rick Scott former CEO of HCA Columbia which had to settle Medicare fraud case for $1.7B is endorsing BD, just for one. The worst sticking togerher –
MH/Duuuval
May 9, 2025 at 7:09 pm
Ironically, “intellectual diversity” (so-called) is being pushed by Dee and his merry MAGAs. So much for meritocracy.