{"id":24128,"date":"2026-08-19T01:58:46","date_gmt":"2026-08-19T01:58:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/?p=24128"},"modified":"2026-08-19T01:58:46","modified_gmt":"2026-08-19T01:58:46","slug":"byron-donalds-wins-florida-gop-primary-to-become-desantis-successor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/?p=24128","title":{"rendered":"Byron Donalds wins Florida GOP primary to become DeSantis successor"},"content":{"rendered":"


\n<\/p>\n

\n
\n

NEW<\/span>You can now listen to Fox News articles!\n <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

President Donald Trump’s handpicked successor to Gov. Ron DeSantis cruised to victory in the Republican gubernatorial primary Tuesday despite a crowded field that included several Florida heavy hitters.<\/p>\n

Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Fla., a third-term congressman and former Florida state lawmaker, easily defeated his Republican opponents.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Already one of the GOP\u2019s most recognized figures, Donalds\u2019 campaign was further boosted by Trump\u2019s endorsement, which came even before he announced he was running in February 2025.<\/p>\n

In second was current Florida Lt. Gov. Jay Collins, a close ally of the governor who explicitly ran on a platform to “protect the DeSantis legacy.” While DeSantis did not endorse Collins in the primary to succeed him, Collins emphasized that DeSantis appointed him.<\/p>\n

SOCIALIST INSURGENCY STORMS TRUMP\u2019S BACKYARD, WITH PRO-ISRAEL DEMOCRATS IN CROSSHAIRS<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n
\"Byron<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>\n
\n
\n

Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Fla., and wife Erika Donalds during a Get Out The Vote rally ahead of a primary election in Boca Raton, Fla., Aug. 16, 2026.<\/span> (Eva Marie Uzcategui\/Bloomberg via Getty Images)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

With the GOP nomination secured, Donalds is expected to have a major advantage in the general election as Florida has grown increasingly red over the last decade.<\/p>\n

Donalds is running on a platform to “enact the Trump agenda” in Florida, including immigration enforcement, and has placed a heavy emphasis on affordability, deregulation and lower taxes. He has also campaigned on growing Florida\u2019s infrastructure and completing the Everglades restoration.<\/p>\n

DESANTIS’ REDISTRICTING FIGHT GETS MAJOR BOOST FROM HIS POTENTIAL GOP SUCCESSOR: ‘DOING THE RIGHT THING’<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n
\"Donald<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>\n
\n
\n

President Donald Trump and Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Fla., during the Republican National Convention at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee July 15, 2024.<\/span> (Eva Marie Uzcategui\/Bloomberg via Getty Images)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

He is a longtime Trump ally, most significantly supporting him over DeSantis in the 2024 Republican presidential primary. Even before announcing his campaign, Trump issued a preemptive endorsement of Donalds in February 2025.<\/p>\n

In a social media post, Trump wrote, “Byron Donalds would be a TRULY GREAT and POWERFUL Governor for Florida and, should he run, will have my complete and total endorsement. RUN, BYRON, RUN!”<\/p>\n

TRUMP\u2019S AFFORDABILITY PLAN FACES CONSERVATIVE PUSHBACK AS POCKETBOOK ISSUES LOOM OVER MIDTERMS<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n
\"Former<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>\n
\n
\n

Former Republican Rep. David Jolly, Democratic gubernatorial candidate for Florida, speaks during the National Action Network 35th Anniversary Convention in New York April 9, 2026.<\/span> (Victor J. Blue\/Bloomberg via Getty Images)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Donalds will now face David Jolly, a former Republican congressman who left the party in 2018 and is now running for Florida governor as a Democrat. Jolly is also running on an affordability message and has cast the election as “a decision about what Florida becomes next.”<\/p>\n

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP<\/strong><\/p>\n

Whichever candidate emerges victorious will succeed DeSantis, a popular two-term governor exiting office because he is term limited.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\n
\n

Peter Pinedo is a politics writer for Fox News Digital.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles! President Donald Trump’s handpicked successor to Gov….<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":24129,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-24128","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sport"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24128","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=24128"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24128\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/24129"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=24128"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=24128"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=24128"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}