Another GOP contender has launched a bid to succeed Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, teeing up a broader problem to President Donald Trump’s chosen candidate to steer his adopted house state.
James Fishback, a 30-year-old investor who lives in Florida’s rural Panhandle area, formally introduced his candidacy Monday, instantly taking pictures at Republican Rep. Byron Donalds, who has Trump’s endorsement and the inside monitor on the race to exchange DeSantis, who can’t run once more in 2026.
In an announcement video, Fishback criticized Donalds’ congressional file and echoed speaking factors from the standard governor, who has had a rocky relationship with Trump after DeSantis challenged him for his or her get together’s presidential nomination in 2023.
Following the governor’s footsteps, Fishback has pledged to eradicate property taxes and is taking purpose at H-1B visas, which are supposed to permit American firms to usher in individuals with technical expertise which might be exhausting to search out in the United States.
“Florida is our home, America is our birthright, and we will never let them steal it from us,” Fishback stated.
Fishback is concentrating on authorized and unlawful immigration, and apparently defending Florida’s slaveholding previous, echoing different Republican leaders who’ve seized on white grievance to animate the GOP’s most passionate voters, who’re overwhelmingly white. If elected, Donalds could be the state’s first Black governor.
“I’m a proud American who will never apologize for our history,” Fishback stated in his announcement video, adopted by a close-up shot of a monument to Confederate troopers in Jackson County, Florida.
In an announcement, Donalds’ marketing campaign leaned on his backing from Trump and dismissed Fishback as a “RINO” or Republican in title solely.
“Byron Donalds will be Florida’s next governor because he is the proven conservative fighter endorsed by President Trump,” stated Ryan Smith, chief strategist for Donalds’ marketing campaign. “Anyone running against him is an anti-Trump RINO and will get crushed in the Republican primary.”