Jacob Ogles
U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds leads First Lady Casey DeSantis among Florida Republican voters, as other rumored candidates remain largely unknown.
That’s according to a survey conducted by St. Pete Polls for Florida Politics. It also shows that if another ally of Gov. Ron DeSantis, Sen. Jay Collins, runs instead of the First Lady, he will start at the bottom of the GOP field.
If the field included Donalds, Casey DeSantis, Agriculture Commissioner Wilton Simpson and former House Speaker Paul Renner, almost 35% of voters now pick Donalds as the party nominee, compared to over 27% who like DeSantis, 3% who favor Simpson and just over 2% who want Renner.
The poll of 831 likely Republican Primary voters collected responses from July 8-10, and pollsters report a 3.4-percentage-point margin of error.
If Collins runs and DeSantis does not, the support for Donalds would rise to almost 44%, while Simpson jumps to about 4% and Renner would almost reach 3%. But Collins registers at only a bit over 2%.
The pollster surveyed voters about a field with Collins in the mix as DeSantis decides who will be appointed as Lieutenant Governor to replace Jeanette Nuñez, who resigned from that post to become President of Florida International University.
Collins has been among the most discussed prospects, which could set him up as a political successor to the Governor if his wife has no interest in the job.
Donalds’ campaign cheered the results.
“Byron Donalds will be Florida’s next Governor because he is the only proven conservative fighter endorsed by President Trump. Byron is working hard to pass President Trump’s agenda in Congress,” said Ryan Smith, Chief Strategist for the Donalds campaign.
“Byron is barnstorming the state meeting with conservative voters. And Byron is raising the resources necessary to win this campaign. As Governor, Byron Donalds will fight side by side with President Trump to Make America Great Again.”
The survey also offered up a Donalds-Casey DeSantis race as a head-to-head, mentioning that Donalds would have the support of President Donald Trump and DeSantis would be endorsed by the Governor.
In that scenario, Donalds’ support grows to greater than 49%, on the brink of a majority vote. DeSantis, though, shows up with just over 21%. As for a similar scenario with Donalds facing Collins, the Congressman would have 57% support and Collins would receive less than 10% of the vote.
You may read the full poll here:
Click to access StPetePolls_2025_State_REP-PRI_July10_DV2G26.pdf
3 comments
Homestead Fred
July 14, 2025 at 7:19 am
People are very happy with Governor DeSantis. He won re-election overwhelmingly. There is no city riots and chaos like you get in Blue States like Kalifornia, Oregon, Illinois, New York, etc. Keep up the fine work Governor.
FactsRUs
July 14, 2025 at 2:29 pm
Bryon Donald’s is a good surrogate speaker for PDJT, but was nowhere to be found when FL was in trouble in almost becoming the Pothead State and allowing abortion through the 9th month had Amendment 4 passed. Actions and words speaker louder than gaping omissions.
And when GRD wanted a special session to address illegal immigration for the POTUS, a mere tweet then crickets from Donald’s when Danny Perez was undermining the Governor’s authority.
FactsRUs
July 14, 2025 at 2:29 pm
Bryon Donald’s is a good surrogate speaker for PDJT, but was nowhere to be found when FL was in trouble in almost becoming the Pothead State and allowing abortion through the 9th month had Amendment 4 passed. Actions and words speaker louder than gaping omissions.
And when GRD wanted a special session to address illegal immigration for the POTUS, a mere tweet then crickets from Donald’s when Danny Perez was undermining the Governor’s authority.
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