Casey DeSantis considers running for Florida governor amid push from top donors
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Republican donors at a gathering last week in Palm Beach County openly discussed the prospect of Casey DeSantis' running for governor in 2026, and for the first time, Florida's first lady is seriously considering the idea.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, her husband, is facing term limits and cannot seek re-election. There has long been speculation about whether Casey, a mainstay on the campaign trail for her husband, would herself one day run for office, but those plans seem to becoming closer to reality, five people directly familiar with the donor event and Casey DeSantis' thought process told NBC News.
'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,' one source familiar with her thinking said.
Casey DeSantis could not be reached for comment for this story.
Casey DeSantis' entrance into the 2026 Republican primary field, which is not yet set, would have significant ripple effects across both the Florida and national political landscapes, potentially setting up a proxy war between Gov. Ron DeSantis and President Donald Trump.
The other Republican who has openly said he is considering a run for governor is Rep. Byron Donalds, a close Trump ally.
'It is a real possibility,' another person familiar with the conversations said of the chances Casey DeSantis runs for governor, though noted they don't know yet if it's a 'probable scenario.'
Before the South Florida donor event last week, the prospect was mostly political conjecture. But even then, the idea had received enough traction that Casey DeSantis has had to address the idea.
'I will tell you this, when people talk about me running for Governor, I think it speaks highly about the governor himself,' she told the Conservative Review podcast in May. 'I think when people see me, it is because they are so happy about everything that this governor has done for the state of Florida.'
'When people start talking about, 'Oh, you know, you should run,' that's because Gov. DeSantis is a rock star and that's because people are so proud of everything that he's done for this state,' she added.
Along with Donalds, Florida Agriculture Commissioner Wilton Simpson is also believed to be eyeing a run. Though he does not have the national profile of either Casey DeSantis or Donalds, he is a well-known statewide elected official in Florida with upwards of $30 million already in the bank from past fundraising efforts.
If Casey DeSantis were to run, the race would almost certainly be viewed, in part, as a proxy war between Trump and DeSantis.
The two became close allies after Trump endorsed DeSantis' 2018 gubernatorial bid, but they had a high-profile falling-out when DeSantis ran against Trump in the 2024 Republican presidential primary.
Their relationship has warmed, but the dynamics of a potential race between the sitting governor's wife and Donalds, widely believed to be the candidate Trump's team would support, would resurrect the rivalry and fight over who is the true kingmaker in Florida Republican politics.
DeSantis and Donalds were once so close that the congressman from southwest Florida introduced DeSantis and his family at DeSantis' 2022 election night victory party; the two had a falling out when Donalds endorsed Trump in the presidential primary.
Similarly, DeSantis has had a strained relationship with Simpson. Last month, the two men openly sparred after the GOP-dominated Florida Legislature proposed a plan to strip DeSantis of immigration oversight authority in the state to give it to Simpson, something DeSantis vocally opposed.
Originally, the governor wanted former Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody, a longtime ally, to run for governor. He saw her as the best prospect to beat Donalds, but he ultimately decided to appoint her to the Senate post left open when Trump picked Marco Rubio to be his secretary of state.
With Moody's exit, DeSantis was forced to find another candidate who was aligned with him that he believed could become governor.
The governor sees his wife running "as his best opportunity to set the future leaderships for the state and prevent a Simpson or Donalds governorship,' another source familiar with the thinking said. 'That's what finally opened him up to a Casey run."
A top Donalds adviser told NBC News they have "heard the rumblings" of a Casey DeSantis gubernatorial bid but declined to comment further.
The pre-existing tensions between DeSantis and both men make it nearly impossible that DeSantis would endorse either in a gubernatorial race and left the state's sitting two-term governor searching for his own candidate that he can support to replace him.
DeSantis has already said he would be active in the 2026 gubernatorial race.
Last month, DeSantis said he would use his state-level political committee, Florida Freedom Fund, to back a candidate in the 2026 governor's race. He used that committee in 2024 to help defeat ballot measures that would legalize recreational marijuana in the state and another that would enshrine abortion rights in the Florida constitution.
'The Florida Freedom Fund was instrumental in raising huge sums of $ to defeat Amendment 3 and 4 in 2024,' he posted on X last month. 'For the 2026 cycle, the FFF will raise even more resources (1) to ensure support of a strong gubernatorial candidate and (2) to support strong conservative candidates in legislative primaries.'
It has left many wondering who DeSantis would end up supporting. The candidate that answers that question may already live in the Florid governor's mansion.
"She's going to run. I think at this point most see that," a person familiar with Casey DeSantis' thinking said. "There is a lot to be worked out, but at this point the rumors are not just that, it's feeling very real."
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