DORAL, Fla. — Florida’s termed-out Gov. Ron DeSantis, who lost the 2024 Republican presidential nomination to Donald Trump says he has not ruled out the possibility of running for president.

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He addressed a second potential run for the White House in 2028 on the Fox News podcast “Hang Out with Sean Hannity.”

This comes as the race to replace him is underway.

So far, 42 candidates are running for governor in what is shaping up to be a crowded field of contenders.

Republicans include Lt. Gov. Jay Collins, U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds and former state House Speaker Paul Renner.

Among the Democrats vying for their party’s nomination are former Republican U.S. Rep. David Jolly and Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings.

List of candidates (Alternate link):

Donalds and Collins both made recent stops in South Florida.

The former was at Miami Dade College in Doral on Tuesday, while the latter was at a Bay of Pigs invasion-related museum in Hialeah Gardens the day prior.

In interviews with Local 10 News, both chimed in on Cuba.

Donalds said “a free Cuba is going to be in the best interest of the Cuban people,” while Collins said “the people in Cuba need to raise up and bring Cuba forward.”

They also shared policy support for eliminating property taxes on homesteaded properties.

“Now anything that gets done is gonna be focused on homesteaded property taxes, in my opinion,” Donalds said. “I know that’s where the governor is. That’s where I am.”

Collins posted a video stating his support.

Donalds applauded DeSantis’ leadership on Tuesday.

“Gov. DeSantis has done a great job leading our state ― and he has ― and he’s to be commended for his leadership in Florida these last eight years,“ Donalds said. ”But what are we going to do next?"

But in 2025, DeSantis took a swipe at Donalds, who has been endorsed by Trump.

“You got a guy like Byron, he just hasn’t been a part of any of the victories that we have had over the left over these last years, he just hasn’t been a part of it,” DeSantis said.

Charles Zelden, a political scientist at Nova Southeastern University, said the Trump endorsement is likely behind the jab.

“Partly, it’s an ongoing part of his opposition and conflict with Trump,” Zelden said. “He (DeSantis) took Trump on in 2024 for presidential race and they don’t get along very well together, even though, policy wise, they’re very similar.”

Local 10 News asked Zelden why Donalds, then, would have so many flattering things to say about DeSantis.

“Well, DeSantis is popular among Republicans in Florida, and attacking a popular governor who you’re seeking to replace if you’re of the same party is not a good tactic,” he said. “So he’s trying to get both ways. He’s trying to play nice with DeSantis, but also have the backing of Trump.”

He weighed in further on the ongoing conflicts between DeSantis and Trump, which some news outlets have characterized as a “proxy war.”

“It’s a question of who is the king of Republicans in Florida? Who is the top Republican in Florida? Is it the governor, or is it the president who lives here?” Zelden said. “That’s really the main source of this, they’re competing for the same slot, if you will, within the party and within the state. The real conflict is one of ego, one of one of personality.

“Policy-wise, there simply isn’t that much to differentiate the two candidates from each other. They’re both very conservative. They’re both believe in a strong executive authority and they so they don’t get along, in part, because they’re too close to each other.”

DeSantis has not yet endorsed a candidate. But if he endorses someone other than Donalds, Zelden said it may reveal an answer to the question of which Republican is top dog.

“Probably, it’s question of if DeSantis does pick to back, say, the lieutenant governor (Collins) and Trump goes for the other candidate, it would sort of prove out who has the best brand in in Florida, among Republicans and then generally among Floridians as a whole in the general election,” he said.

Meanwhile, Zelden said Democrats are facing serious headwinds in a state that has quickly vaulted from purple to red on the backs of the GOP’s major gains with Hispanic and younger voters, namely that “nobody knows who their candidates are.”

“The fact that the Democratic candidate with the most name recognition is a former Republican also is a sign of the difficulty the Democrats are having right now,” he said. “Not to say they don’t have good candidates. They’ve got solid candidates who would make potentially make very good governors and who may be good candidates in a general election, but at this stage of the game, nobody’s talking about the Democrats.”

Local 10 Digital Journalist Chris Gothner contributed to this report.

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