Casey DeSantis strongly suggests she may run for governor. Can Ron’s hidden advantage triumph in a battle against MAGA?

As Florida Governor Ron DeSantis tells it, his wife Casey would do even better than he did should she run for governor. 

The GOP state leader swept into office for his second term having won reelection in 2022 by a whopping nearly 20 points.

Now, DeSantis, who is term-limited and unable to seek reelection in 2026, has been promoting Florida’s first lady as the gubernatorial race starts to develop.

‘Many are speculating about her possible candidacy. What I mentioned was… she has never pursued any political aspirations, right? Because that’s simply not her personality,’ DeSantis stated earlier this week.

But he added noting his 2022 victory ‘she would do better than me, like, there’s no question about that.’

Casey DeSantis, aged 44, has never held a political position, but her name has been suggested as one to keep an eye on if she decides to enter the race as DeSantis’ preferred successor.

The ex-journalist often referred to as DeSantis’ ‘secret weapon’ has been a force of nature for her husband on the campaign trail and is considered one of his closest political advisers.

She stoked further speculation on Friday when asked directly about whether she’s exploring a bid. 

‘To quote the late, great Yogi Berra, “when you come to a fork in the road, take it,’ she said. 

The governor followed her remark stating ‘I’ve had people coming up to me for years begging to get her in the fray.’ 

Casey DeSantis speaking at a campaign event as her husband looks on in 2023. Governor Ron DeSantis has been talking up his wife and her ability to win the Florida governor’s race as the campaign season starts to take shape

‘Everybody that’s anywhere near those two, and this is well known, know that she’s the strategist in the team,’ said political analyst Susan MacManus, professor emerita at University of South Florida.

‘She understands how to get a message across, framing of issues and where you go next, she’s very good at that,’ MacManus said.

Polling by University of North Florida’s Public Opinion Research Lab (PORL) this month found Florida’s first lady has a higher favorability than other names that have been floated for Florida governor.

57 percent of Republicans have a favorable opinion of her while 30 percent have a favorable opinion overall.

But with President Trump already endorsing Florida Congressman Bryon Donalds for governor this month, it is starting to look like it could become a proxy war between Trump and DeSantis.

The real question according to Florida insiders is whether Donalds stumbles. 

Some expect DeSantis to see what happens before throwing her name in the ring. Like everywhere else in the U.S. with politics these days, Florida politics move fast.

‘It seems very likely to me that she is going to run assuming things don’t change dramatically,’ one Republican operative told DailyMail.com.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis with Florida First Lady Casey and their three children after he was sworn in for a second term in Tallahassee, FL on January 3, 2023

There has been speculation on whether DeSantis in the past ever wanted his wife to run or if such talk had largely been pushed on her end. 

However, insiders suggest his attitude changed when the governor faced the reality of being a lame duck and no longer having the platform. 

Pressed further on the ‘fork’ comment on Friday, the governor said his wife was leaving her plan to ‘imagination’ with a laugh.  

The mother of three young children has been one of DeSantis’ most prominent surrogates on the campaign trail as he mounted bids first for governor and later president.

The governor once referred to running for governor as a ‘we’ and said he believed people took a chance on him ‘because they wanted her as first lady.’

During his first run for his first term, his wife was featured prominently in campaign ads, events and interviews.

Since her husband entered his first term as governor in 2019, DeSantis has been frequently out with him as he travelled across the state. 

Casey DeSantis addressing fundraising efforts for Hurricane Ian

DeSantis with his family on election night in Tampa on November 8, 2022. He won his reelection bid by nearly 20 points during the midterms

She has also launched a series of initiatives including efforts to address mental illness and substance abuse as well as fostering public-private partnerships to help Floridians in need.

DeSantis also helped raise tens of millions of dollars in disaster relief funds through one of her initiatives to help the victims of Hurricane Ian after it slammed into Florida in September 2022.

In 2021, DeSantis was diagnosed with breast cancer and underwent treatment. Her husband described the diagnosis as a life-changing moment for his family.

After undergoing treatment including six weeks of radiation and three surgeries, she was finally deemed cancer-free in March 2022.

Since then, Florida’s first lady has been a champion in the fight against cancer, helping secure millions of dollars in funding for research and care in her state as well as raising awareness for early cancer screenings and support for impacted families.

It is one of their challenges as a family that the couple also did not shy away from on the campaign trail, publicly reflecting on their battle and times when DeSantis was too sick to care for their three children. 

When the governor ran in presidential primary, the pair gave an emotional interview in which DeSantis spoke about how her husband was there for her and their children when she could ‘barely scrape’ herself off the bathroom floor because she was sick.

Casey DeSantis gets a kiss from her husband after speaking at a fundraising picnic in Iowa in May 2023

Casey DeSantis campaigning for her husband with a solo event while he was running for president in the 2024 primary

Casey DeSantis in an ad for her husband as he ran for governor. The ad gained attention for including his family and Trumpism. She has been prominently featured in multiple campaign ads

Throughout much of his presidential campaign, DeSantis was with her husband as he hit the trail across early primary states, not only giving speeches at her husband’s side but also with her own campaign events.

On the road in the past, she tirelessly talked up her husband’s accomplishments and work in Florida, but she has also spoken about being a mother, a survivor and faith, providing a softer side to the Florida leader.

But should Florida’s first lady enter the race at this stage, she would face an uphill climb due to Trump’s early endorsement in his adopted home state.

Trump is credited for essentially hand-picking DeSantis back when he was a congressman to run against a popular Republican in 2018. DeSantis went on to win the primary and election.

On February 20, Trump announced his ‘Complete and Total Endorsement’ of Donalds in a social media post and urged him to RUN, BYRON, RUN!’ before he even entered the race on Tuesday.

‘The early endorsement is obviously making some others that had their eye on running for governor, probably are in the process of rethinking whether it’s worth expending the time and energy,’ MacManus said.

Florida Congressman Byron Donalds announced his candidacy for Florida governor on Tuesday

Even before the endorsement, a January poll conducted by Victory Insights found Donalds had 31 percent support, by far the most of any candidate in a four-way race, in a hypothetical GOP primary race.

DeSantis was not even among the names included, and 60 percent were undecided.

Overall, candidates and potential candidates for governor still have relatively low name recognition in the state. 

But since Trump’s endorsement, Donalds name has been everywhere in Florida. 

After Trump’s Truth Social post on Donalds, Governor DeSantis took a swipe at Donalds, who has served since 2021, and continued to play up the support for his wife in Florida.

DeSantis argued Donalds has not played a role in the success of Florida. GOP operatives point out the same could have been said about DeSantis before he was elected governor. 

Florida’s first couple could also face some challenges with the state legislature should she mount a bid even though Republicans have a super majority. 

The governor and the Republican legislators have recently clashed over immigration, putting the relationship heading into his final years on delicate ground.

‘Ron has no friends, and that extends to Casey as well,’ one operative told DailyMail.com. 

Rep. Byron Donalds with then-candidate Trump at the Republican National Convention in July 2024. President Trump recently endorsed Donalds in the Florida governor race even before he made his bid official

Trump with Casey DeSantis and then-candidate Ron DeSantis as he ran for Florida governor before winning his first term in 2018

Casey DeSantis continues to be more popular in the state than her husband, something she is expected to capitalize on, should she run. 

DeSantis first met his future wife on a golf course at the University of North Florida back in 2006 where they struck up a conversation. As the governor tells it they ‘just happened to hit it off.’

At the time, the striking brunette was a local television reporter and he was just out of the Navy.

They were married in September 2009 at Walt Disney World. Ironically, DeSantis went on to spar with Disney over its opposition to the ‘Don’t Say Gay’ bill years later.

Casey DeSantis and Ron DeSantis on their wedding day in 2009

Casey DeSantis on the campaign trail for her husband during his first bid for Florida governor in Boca Raton, FL in 2018

Born Jill Casey Black in Ohio, DeSantis went on to study at the College of Charleston where she studied economics and French and was a champion equestrian.

She later became an award-winning news reporter and anchor for local stations in Jacksonville where she eventually hosted a local talk show and weekly programming.

Together Florida’s first couple has three children including Madison, 7, Mason, 5, and Mamie, 3.

Their youngest was the first baby born in the Florida governor’s mansion in more than 50 years.