Speaker Endorses Rep. Donalds for Florida Governor

House Speaker Mike Johnson on Thursday endorsed Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Fla., in the upcoming race for Florida governor, calling him "a principled conservative leader."

"In Congress, Byron has been tenacious in standing up for Florida and President Trump's America First agenda," Johnson told Politico. "I have no doubt he will bring that same fighting spirit with him as governor."

Donalds was previously endorsed by President Donald Trump, who encouraged him to run before Donalds announced his gubernatorial campaign at the end of February.

"Byron Donalds would be a truly Great and Powerful Governor for Florida, and, should he decide to run, will have my Complete and Total Endorsement," Trump wrote in a statement on social media in late February, adding, "RUN, BYRON, RUN."

Donalds could run against the state's first lady, Casey DeSantis, whose husband called her a potential replacement during a speech in which he criticized Donalds as not being involved in the Sunshine State.

"The reality is, we've achieved victories in Florida. We need to start achieving those victories up there," Ron DeSantis said in Tampa in February, just after Trump endorsed Donalds in the gubernatorial race. "So, I think people look at it and say, 'You know, you got a guy like Byron. He just hasn't been a part of any of the victories that we've had here over the left over these last few years.

"He's just not been a part of it. He's been in other states campaigning and doing that. And that's fine, but OK, then deliver results up there. That's what I want to see. I want to see them delivering results for the people of Florida. We deliver here all the time for the people of Florida, and that's what we need to be doing."

Ron DeSantis went on to say that his wife "would do better than me" if she ran for governor.

"There's no question about it," he said. "That would happen. And she's someone who has the intestinal fortitude and the dedication of conservative principles that anything that we've accomplished, that she'd be able to take to the next level."