Former President Donald Trump is pushing deep into Gov. Ron DeSantis’s territory, notching several endorsements by Florida House lawmakers in recent days as the former commander-in-chief continues to hold a significant endorsement edge over the Republican governor.
Rep. Michael Waltz (R-Fla.) became the 11th of the 20-member Florida Republican delegation to endorse Trump over DeSantis, who has not declared his candidacy for president in 2024 but has made numerous overtures in that direction. There have also been reports that DeSantis approached a number of congressional Republicans in recent days about an endorsement.
Of note, Waltz is representing the same district that DeSantis had represented as a House lawmaker before he was elected governor in 2018.
So far, Trump has gained at least 46 endorsements from Republican members of the House, whereas DeSantis has only secured three, according to an Epoch Times analysis. Nine senators have endorsed Trump, and none have endorsed DeSantis.
DeSantis, who has been endorsed by prominent GOP Reps. Chip Roy (R-Texas) and Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), is significantly behind Trump in the 2024 polls. Trump’s stock among Republicans gained a boost after he was indicted and arraigned in Manhattan on charges of falsifying business records—allegations that Trump says are part of a longstanding witch hunt to harm him politically.
Outside of Waltz’s endorsement, Florida Republican Reps. Matt Gaetz, Anna Paulina Luna, Greg Steube, Byron Donalds, John Rutherford, Cory Mills, Vern Buchanan, and Brian Mast announced they are backing Trump’s third presidential run. Trump also announced that Reps. Gus Bilirakis (R-Fla.) and Carlos Gimenez (R-Fla.) are backing him during an email sent out to his supporters Wednesday.
A handful of Florida Republican lawmakers, however, have signaled that they won’t back either Trump or DeSantis—yet.
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A staffer to Rep. Neal Dunn (R-Fla.) told ABC News that the congressman would back “whatever the party decides” regarding the Republican presidential nominee.
In the Senate, the nine Republican senators who have endorsed Trump are Sens. Ted Budd (R-N.C.), Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.), Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.), Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.), Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.), Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.), and J.D. Vance (R-Ohio). Two governors—West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice and South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster—have endorsed the former president.
Graham, considered among the most powerful Republicans in the Senate, has formed a close relationship with Trump over the years, although the two appear to have some policy differences. “I know the downside of Trump, but let me tell you about the upside of Trump: there are no Trump policies without Trump,” Graham told Fox News in January.
So far, the declared GOP candidates are Trump’s former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley, former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, and businessman Vivek Ramaswamy. Like DeSantis, Trump’s former vice president, Mike Pence, has signaled that he wants to run for president but hasn’t officially made such a declaration.
Among Democrats, businesswoman Marianne Williamson and environmental lawyer and vaccine safety advocate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. have declared their candidacies for the White House. President Joe Biden, who is expected to announce another run, has not made an announcement yet.
Outside of the competition for endorsements, Trump has waged a virtually one-sided war of words against DeSantis, who has issued few direct statements about Trump since the former president launched a presidential bid in November. On Wednesday night, Trump again tore into DeSantis, to which the governor so far hasn’t issued a response.
“We’re getting lots of job requests from people currently working for the Social Security, Medicare-cutting ‘DeSanctimonious’ campaign,” Trump said in a campaign policy-style video. “Ron’s poll numbers are dropping so fast and furious that many people are speculating he’s not going to run.”
“He just hired ‘kiss of death’ Jeff Roe. He’s the kiss of death,” Trump continued. “I can tell you a lot of the people that we defeated who were represented by Jeff Roe.”
The Epoch Times has contacted DeSantis’s team for comment.
