Although he’s not on this year’s ballot, there was no doubt who the star of Tuesday night’s Republican candidate forum was.
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Gov. Ron DeSantis walked on stage as a video of him rousingly declared: “We will never surrender to the woke mob. Florida is where woke goes to die.”
If wokeness isn’t the most pressing matter in this year’s election, neither were the other golden oldies DeSantis recalled to regale the ballroom crowd at TPepin’s Hospitality Centre about his eight years in office.
Like the time Florida defied Dr. Anthony Fauci, former President Joe Biden’s chief medical officer, on COVID restrictions. Or when Florida ceased being a swing state. Or when he took on Disney and won.
Officially, the event was meant to stoke party unity among Republicans before the Nov. 3 election and promote and endorse the ticket, including the candidacy of U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds for governor. Unofficially, it was a 90-minute tribute to DeSantis, who reminded everyone, including Donalds, of the important legacy that needed protecting.
“I can go on and on with all the victories,” said DeSantis, who is termed out. “Suffice it to say that we led on every important issue. We delivered more results than has ever been delivered, and the state is better for it.”
Not all topics merited a mention. DeSantis said nothing about the Hope Florida scandal. It gained national attention last week when someone leaked a grand jury report that concluded the DeSantis administration was responsible for $10 million in taxpayer money getting misused for political purposes. Nor did DeSantis say anything about Florida’s 14th execution, which the state carried out about an hour before the forum started.
Perched on high chairs like contestants in a spelling bee, Donalds and the three other GOP candidates for Florida’s top offices gamely played along, enthusiastically answering DeSantis’ questions while interjecting their own praise of his job performance.
Two of the candidates, Attorney General James Uthmeier and Chief Financial Officer Blaise Ingoglia, were appointed by DeSantis to their jobs last year. Only Commissioner of Agriculture Wilton Simpson attended the forum seeking reelection.
The man running to succeed DeSantis, Donalds, was on stage with him for the first time in more than a year. Once political allies, their relationship cooled considerably after Donalds endorsed President Donald Trump in 2023 instead of DeSantis.
There were no visible signs of tension between the two Tuesday night. DeSantis complimented Donalds for how he voted as a state representative after the 2018 Parkland shooting. While the majority of lawmakers and Gov. Rick Scott passed and signed legislation for stricter gun measures, such as raising the age of firearm purchases to 21, Donalds voted no.
“You showed in that, you know, it’s easy to defend rights when they’re popular,” DeSantis told Donalds. “It’s a lot harder when you know the emotions run high and you’re pressured to do that.”
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DeSantis then asked Donalds if he would sign a bill restoring the rights for those 18 to 20 to buy a firearm.
“1000%, absolutely,” Donalds said as the crowd cheered.
DeSantis was in command during moments like that, peppering Donalds and others with the questions. While many in the state’s Republican establishment are counting down the days (126 as of Tuesday) when he’ll leave office, DeSantis remains a popular figure with the state’s GOP grassroots and sits atop the party hierarchy.
Yet rather than leveraging the considerable sway he holds over conservative voters, DeSantis has seemed detached from events for much of this year’s election.
He has said he won’t campaign for Amendment 3, a ballot measure reducing property taxes he helped inspire. It was only after the GOP primary had already been decided that DeSantis said he would support Donalds, but only as part of the entire slate of Republican candidates. On Tuesday, DeSantis shared just how closely he had been following the election.
“I don’t even know who most of you are running against,” DeSantis joked.
Each of the four candidates vowed they would carry on DeSantis’ legacy.
“My mission as the state’s next governor is to build on the success of Ron DeSantis to make sure that all of you can be free, and we continue to be in the best state in North America,” declared Donalds.
“We led the country in suing Big Tech companies, going after AI companies that are hurting our kids,” Uthmeier said. “No company is too big. Nobody’s too powerful. If you hurt our kids, we’re going to make you pay for it.”
“One of the reasons why I want to continue doing this is because of the leadership of Ron DeSantis in showing that Florida is the best state,” Ingoglia said.
The campaign of Donalds’ Democratic opponent, former U.S. Rep. David Jolly, was unimpressed by the proceedings, which were live-streamed.
“No matter who endorses whom, the reality is this: David Jolly is running to lower housing and healthcare costs, improve education for all families, and stop data centers,” Jolly’s senior adviser, Mark Riddle, said in a statement. “Byron Donalds represents more of the same.”
But only DeSantis seemed to matter Tuesday. And he seemed satisfied.
“You can see they’ve all done a great job thinking about these issues. They answered all the questions, and so I hope that you’ll do what I do,” DeSantis said at the end of the forum. “I’m endorsing the slate here tonight.”
After shaking hands with his panelists, DeSantis walked off stage and was gone.
©2026 Tampa Bay Times. Visit tampabay.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
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