Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis responded Monday to the political buzz surrounding his wife Casey — that in two years she could take his place in the Florida governor’s mansion.
There has long been speculation that Florida’s popular first lady could serve two terms as governor after her husband ends his term.
And last month, a poll from Florida Atlantic University showed Casey far ahead of Rep. Matt Gaetz in the first survey.
“If I had to characterize her interest in getting into the political thicket as a candidate, I would say I would characterize it as zero,” DeSantis said at a news conference in Coral Gables.
“But you know, I think it’s because she’s had a front row seat to all the crap that happens when you do it,” the former 2024 presidential candidate added.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said Casey DeSantis’ interest in running for Florida governor in 2026 was “zero” during a press conference on Monday in Coral Gables, Florida
Casey DeSantis (right) was often at her husband’s side during his 2024 presidential run. Here, she and Florida’s governor (left) visit volunteers in Iowa in the days leading up to the caucus
Casey, a former TV news reporter, and the couple’s three children were fixtures during the presidential campaign earlier this year.
In early polling for the 2026 governor’s race, 38 percent of Florida voters said they would choose her over Gaetz as the state’s next governor.
Gaetz received the support of only 16 percent of the electorate, while 20 percent said they would like to see another candidate and 26 percent were unsure who they would support.
Meanwhile, at former President Donald Trump’s massive rally in Wildwood, New Jersey this weekend, supporters of the ex-president championed DeSantis’ idea for Trump’s vice president.
“I love DeSantis,” 80-year-old Linda Donnelly, who traveled from Long Island to the meeting, told DailyMail.com. “Because he’s very much like Trump, but with a little bit of – I don’t want to use the word class – what would be another word? He’s Trump, but with a slightly better vocabulary.’
Nancy Martin, a 62-year-old beautician who traveled from Baltimore, Maryland to the meeting, also endorsed DeSantis as a good vice presidential choice for Trump.
“My first choice is DeSantis,” she said. “Because I love him,” she laughed.
Casey DeSantis (left) has long been considered someone who could take her husband’s place in the Florida governor’s mansion once his term ends
“Because he’s a great governor, I think he’s great and he’s America First.”
DeSantis’ well-financed 2024 campaign ran out of steam in late January, ahead of the New Hampshire primary, after finishing a distant second in Iowa after spending months on the ground there.
Florida’s governor said during a phone call in February that he would not want to be Trump’s vice president.
There’s also a constitutional problem for DeSantis — and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, whom Trump’s donors want to take into account — since the Twelfth Amendment prevents voters from choosing a president and vice president from the same state.
Trump changed his residence from New York to Florida in October 2019.