That question remains unresolved with more than a year before Republican primary voters will decide on their standard bearer to succeed Ron DeSantis and attempt to keep the governor’s mansion under conservative control for another four years.
A man whose name has been floated as possibly challenging Donalds for the nomination — Hillsborough County state Sen. Jay Collins — is not saying that he’ll be that candidate, but does argue that someone needs to take on the Naples-based U.S. representative next year.
“I think that there’s a lot of time in any election between now and then,” he told a small group of reporters Saturday during the Florida Freedom Forum, a Republican event, in Orlando. “And historically, you don’t ever have just one candidate in a primary. Whether I ever decide to step into the arena or somebody else does, I think there’s a high chance that somebody will step in.”
Collins told the Phoenix in May that if DeSantis were to appoint him to serve as lieutenant governor, it would be “an honor” and that he’d be happy to do it. Since then, rumors have spread that the governor’s choice for LG would be considered his hand-picked challenger to Donalds.
But that was nearly three months ago, and DeSantis still hasn’t decided publicly his choice to succeed Jeanette Nuñez, who departed the position to lead Florida International University in February.
Another name that has been floated in the interim is former House Speaker Paul Renner, who participated in a panel discussion held at the Forum Saturday on school choice.
And then of course there’s Casey DeSantis, whom the governor has been pumping up for the race — although she and the governor have been relatively low-key on that matter in recent weeks.
Collins, an ally of the governor who was granted a prime spot to speak to the attendees at the Forum on Saturday, says that at the end of the day it’s “about getting the best candidate forward” for the Republican Party of Florida.
“I think competition’s good for anybody,” he said. “And look, I don’t want anybody to say anything. I have no umbrage with Byron. I don’t. I believe we should have a choice. Byron is a conservative leader. His family have done great things in the community. And in the end, you know, what I think our government, our people, our world works better with choice, and will see where life goes, but in the end, we’re going to be okay. Florida’s in a great position.”
Donalds also appeared at the Forum on Saturday. He engaged in a 40-minute discussion with conservative influencer Benny Johnson, who asked how we would continue “Trump policies” in Florida?
Donalds responded by saying that he gave a lot of the credit to Gov. DeSantis for “where we are as a state.”
When asked about the only major Democrat to enter the gubernatorial race, former GOP U.S. Rep. David Jolly, Donalds was dismissive. “Bless his heart,” he said of his potential 2026 opponent. ‘Bless his heart. That’s all I’m going to say.”
Florida Phoenix is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Florida Phoenix maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Michael Moline for questions: info@floridaphoenix.com.Subscribe to Creative Loafing newsletters.
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This article appears in Jul 31 – Aug 6, 2025.