{"id":4306,"date":"2026-06-15T19:04:06","date_gmt":"2026-06-15T19:04:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/?p=4306"},"modified":"2026-06-15T19:04:06","modified_gmt":"2026-06-15T19:04:06","slug":"desantis-hits-florida-gop-over-republican-primary-debate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/?p=4306","title":{"rendered":"DeSantis hits Florida GOP over Republican primary debate"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Gov. Ron DeSantis wants to see a debate among the Republican candidates vying to replace him.<\/p>\n

Read more Even with a deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, it could take weeks or months for oil to fully flow<\/a><\/p>\n

But the race\u2019s front-runner, U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds, has already refused to do so. On Thursday, a campaign spokesperson said it wasn\u2019t Donalds\u2019 job to \u201clegitimize campaigns that have failed to gain meaningful support.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Donalds\u2019 campaign\u2019s official shutdown of a debate came amid reports that the Republican Party of Florida used a strict threshold to disqualify the three other notable GOP candidates from debating at a Republican summit in late June.<\/p>\n

DeSantis alluded to that when asked at a West Palm Beach news conference on Friday.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve heard secondhand what the criteria was. I wouldn\u2019t have qualified when I ran in \u201818 for what they were trying to do,\u201d DeSantis said.<\/p>\n

On Friday, the Florida GOP released its criteria to qualify for the debate: Candidates must have at least 10% support in a reputable poll, have raised more than $10 million and have secured more than 10,000 donors.<\/p>\n

Under those criteria, only Donalds would qualify.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn a state as large and diverse as Florida, with its multiple media markets and complex political landscape, this remains a reasonable and accessible threshold,\u201d the memo said.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

DeSantis said it\u2019s \u201ccounterproductive when you try to engineer an outcome,\u201d pointing to indicators that it could be a difficult year for Republicans.<\/p>\n

Allowing more voters to have their say, he said, the better. Strict criteria can alienate people and could weaken trust in the party\u2019s brand, he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat the party should be doing is doing what\u2019s in the best interest of Republican voters,\u201d he said. \u201cYou shouldn\u2019t have another agenda.\u201d<\/p>\n

But DeSantis also said the party controlling debates is \u201cridiculous.\u201d He said candidates could set up debates of their own through television, radio or podcasts.<\/p>\n

Read more Azmoun\u2019s stand costs him a World Cup spot with Iran<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

A spokesperson for the Republican Party of Florida did not immediately return a request for comment.<\/p>\n

In the primary, Donalds faces three other Republicans who have pushed him for a debate: investor James Fishback, Lt. Gov. Jay Collins and former House Speaker Paul Renner.<\/p>\n

Though the Florida GOP only qualified Donalds for a debate, it had noted that other candidates would be at their flagship event and would have time on stage to share their ideas.<\/p>\n

But Friday afternoon, the party yanked Fishback\u2019s invite, pointing to his planned participation in a \u201crival, unsanctioned\u201d debate that violates the party\u2019s rules.<\/p>\n

The party also said Fishback has spread \u201cantisemitic and racist attacks\u201d on party members.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Republican Party of Florida cannot sanction participation in official Party activities while simultaneously allowing candidates to undermine those same activities through competing events,\u201d state party chairperson Evan Power said in a statement.<\/p>\n

In response, Fishback said in a text that \u201cthe official Republican Party of Florida, which refuses to host a debate between Byron Donalds and me, is now banning me from their convention because I agreed to a debate with CBS News.\u201d<\/p>\n

DeSantis has not endorsed a candidate to succeed him. The primary election is Aug. 18.<\/p>\n

_____<\/p>\n

\u00a92026 Tampa Bay Times. Visit tampabay.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.<\/p>\n

Read more World Cup racism monitor urges FIFA to remove match official over hand gesture on TV broadcast<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis wants to see a debate among the candidates vying to succeed him, but frontrunner Byron Donalds and the state GOP are balking.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4305,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[45,13,27],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4306","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-election","category-news","category-politics"],"yoast_head":"\nDeSantis hits Florida GOP over Republican primary debate - Orlando Relocation Report<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/?p=4306\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"DeSantis hits Florida GOP over Republican primary debate - Orlando Relocation Report\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Florida Gov. 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