The race to become the GOP nominee in Florida's gubernatorial election next year is showing signs of become a proxy battle between Gov. Ron DeSantis and President Donald Trump, against whom the governor competed in last year’s presidential contest.

Trump is backing Florida Republican Rep. Byron Donalds, already endorsing the congressman and MAGA stalwart before he even officially entered the race.

DeSantis in recent weeks has touted his wife, Florida first lady Casey DeSantis, as a candidate, at least indirectly.

“All these people are chattering about her running. And what I said was, you know ... she’s never angled for anything, right? Because that’s just not who she is,” DeSantis said while speaking to reporters last month. “But I will tell you this, she would do better than me. Like, there’s no question about that.”

Casey DeSantis has yet to commit to running, but as recently as last week, at a public event in Miami, she teased the possibility.

“When you come to a fork in the road, take it,” she said, quoting baseball legend Yogi Berra.

The governor also questioned Donalds’ accomplishments, while highlighting his wife's work involving cancer research and behavioral health.

“As if that's not enough, she actually tackles one of the thorniest issues, which is child welfare, challenging the Great Society and the War on Poverty’s conception of how you deliver these services by launching Hope Florida, which says government's not the answer,” he said.

Other potential candidates in the GOP primary include state Agriculture Commissioner Wilton Simpson, former GOP Rep. Matt Gaetz, state Sen. Ashley Moody and state Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis. 

Among Democrats mentioned is state Senate Minority Leader Jason Pizzo, who represents north Miami-Dade and south Broward counties, according to NPR affiliate WUSF-FM.

Florida, where Trump now makes his home, and a state he won in 2016, 2020 and 2024, has had four straight GOP governors, including DeSantis, who must leave his post because of term limits. His 2024 bid to become president appeared early to be among the strongest, but it never really caught fire. 

Donalds earlier this month on the Fox News Channel reminded viewers that Trump endorsed DeSantis back in 2017 for his successful bid for a House seat.

He "had the support of Donald Trump, and that worked out great for our state," Donalds said, before adding that Trump "has a history of making good picks, and I think his picks have always worked out for the Sunshine State."

In endorsing Donalds, one of the president's strongest Capitol Hill supporters, Trump called him a "total winner" who can advance the America First agenda.
 
"Byron Donalds would be a truly great and powerful governor for Florida, and should he decide to run, he will have my complete and total endorsement. RUN, BYRON, RUN!" Trump wrote on Truth Social.

Aubrey Jewett, an associate professor and associate director at University of Central Florida's School of Politics, Security and International Affairs, told Just the News last week that right now Donalds has a higher chance of winning the election because Trump endorsed him.

However, he argues that while Donalds might be huge in MAGA world and on Capitol Hill, Casey DeSantis, a breast cancer survivor, is well known throughout the state, having the high-profile platform of being Florida's first lady for six-plus years so far.

A Feb. 18 poll by the University of North Florida’s Public Opinion Research Lab among registered state voters found DeSantis had a 30% favorability rating, and that 33% of respondents had never heard of her, compared to 15% and 66%, respectively for Donalds. The poll's margin of error was 3.7 percentage points. 

Michael Binder, PORL faculty director and professor of political science, pointed out Casey DeSantis "was the top early pick for potential Republican primary candidates when we asked back in late 2023, albeit with only 22% support."

Jewett thinks DeSantis is more well known than Donalds in state GOP circles and speculates that, like all first-time candidates, her lack of political experience could help her since voters could see what they want to see in her as a candidate. 

He compared her to former first lady Michelle Obama, who he said "polled very high in a hypothetical match-up with Trump" in 2024 before then-Vice President Kamala Harris was chosen at the Democratic National Convention to be the party's presidential nominee. 

"So while Donalds is the frontrunner, Casey DeSantis is certainly still competitive," said Jewett, who also praised the congressman for not reacting to the governor's negative comments about him – including "he just hasn’t been a part of any of the victories we’ve had here over these last years" – considering he'll likely need DeSantis' support to win the governor's seat if his wife does not run and Donalds wins the primary. 

When asked about the so-called proxy battle late last month, Donalds told The Hill newspaper, "It’s too soon for all of that. Let’s see what happens. I’m not sure how the whole primary is going to shape up."

Jewett doubts Gartz will run despite being relatively popular among Florida Republicans, saying, he suffered "some damage from the congressional ethics investigation and his subsequent withdrawal from being Trump's Attorney General nominee."

"Gaetz seems like more of a long-shot than Donalds or Casey DeSantis," he said.