Ron DeSantis, Byron Donalds did not speak at Alligator Alcatraz as dynamic remains frosty

It remains to be seen if the current Governor and the potential future Governor can figure out a functional dynamic in the next year and a half.

But to hear U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds tell it, there’s room for improvement in dialogue with Gov. Ron DeSantis.

“Things have been better than they are now,” the Naples Republican said this week to The Hill, calling the relationship a “work in progress.”

Ironically, the transition between former Gov. Rick Scott and DeSantis was not without its own complications, showing that history could repeat. The current Senator threw a party at the Governor’s Mansion after the DeSantises had moved in, then left DeSantis’ swearing-in early so he could get to Washington.

While DeSantis and Donalds were both at the soft launch of Alligator Alcatraz, the detainment facility on the edge of The Everglades for illegal immigrants awaiting deportation, there was no opportunity for conversation.

“We didn’t get a chance to speak,” Donalds said, noting that DeSantis toured the facility with President Donald Trump ahead of a roundtable event. And after that event, there was a rush to leave as bad weather descended on the tented facility.

“Everybody was trying to figure out how to get to the exits and get out of the Glades before the storms really come in,” Donalds related.

First Lady Casey DeSantis has teased a run for Governor, but overt efforts have been relatively dormant as Donalds has ramped up his own campaign. She has said “a lot of people around the state … are so tired of politics” and noted that “it’s more than a year until qualifying.”

Yet politics continue all the same.

A survey from St. Pete Polls shows Donalds with an 8-point lead against Casey DeSantis on a multiperson ballot where voters are not informed he is Trump’s pick. With voters informed, Donalds leads the First Lady 49% to 21%.