Byron Donalds helped Ron DeSantis prepare for his first gubernatorial debate – and now DeSantis won't even answer whether he'll return the favor.
But DeSantis may be doing something far worse.
And Ron DeSantis could let a sore loser's grudge hand Florida Democrats their first governor's race in a decade.
The Grudge That Won't Die
This is personal, and everyone in Florida Republican politics knows it.
Donalds was in DeSantis' corner in 2018, helping him prep for the debate against Andrew Gillum that launched his political career.
Then Donalds made the call that most Florida Republicans made – he backed Donald Trump over DeSantis in the 2024 presidential primary.
DeSantis stopped taking his calls.
DeSantis reportedly refused to pick up the phone when Donalds tried to reach him, then went to Trump personally and argued Donalds was "unfit" to be Florida's next governor.
https://twitter.com/EricLDaugh/status/2089130019113120102?s=20
DeSantis has moved on just enough to issue a statement on Primary Night that he was "supporting the Republican ticket."
But supporting the ticket and actively campaigning are two different things – and when a reporter asked him point-blank in Miami which one he was doing, DeSantis made sure everyone understood the distinction.
He hasn't blocked out any dates.
Donalds, for his part, is playing nice.
He told reporters he had a "very productive conversation" with DeSantis last week and expects to talk again "this week."
He described their back-and-forth as something that will "continue through the rest of this campaign."
That's campaign-speak for: we still haven't worked this out.
What's Actually at Stake
Trump endorsed Donalds. Donalds won the August 18 primary with 47.8% of the vote in a crowded field that included Lt. Gov. Jay Collins, former House Speaker Paul Renner, and James Fishback.
Now he's in a general election against David Jolly – a former Republican congressman who left the party, went independent, and is now running as a Democrat – and the race is closer than any Florida Republican should be comfortable with.
Public polling shows Donalds ahead by roughly six points on average.
The Democratic Governors Association is pushing an internal survey showing Jolly with a one-point lead.
Neither number looks like DeSantis winning re-election in 2022.
Florida Republicans hold every statewide office, supermajorities in both chambers of the legislature, and 20 of 28 congressional seats.
https://twitter.com/ReOpenChris/status/2092628980813689193?s=20
They've built a 1.5 million voter registration advantage that didn't exist eight years ago.
There's nowhere to hide from the record when you own everything – and Jolly is running as an outsider against a machine that DeSantis built.
DeSantis was happy to take credit for that machine when reporters asked him about it.
"When I was running in '18, we had more Democrats in the state than Republicans," DeSantis said. "That's changed."
He's right.
He's also not campaigning for the Trump Republican running to keep it that way.
The 2028 Calculation
Florida has seen this before – and DeSantis has a front-row seat to what it looks like.
When he won the governorship in 2018, Rick Scott was the term-limited incumbent.
The two men rarely hit the trail together.
Then, at DeSantis' inauguration, Scott left before DeSantis even reached the podium – flying to Washington, DC to be sworn into the Senate.
DeSantis knows this script.
Now he's the one holding the leverage, and a Trump-backed Republican nominee is waiting by the phone.
Here's what nobody in Tallahassee wants to say out loud: DeSantis has presidential ambitions in 2028.
Byron Donalds – young, Trump-aligned, nationally known – is a potential rival for that lane.
A Donalds governorship is a Donalds launchpad.
A Donalds loss is a Donalds dead end.
Whether DeSantis is running that calculation deliberately or whether the grudge simply runs that deep, the result is identical.
Donalds is on his own against a race Democrats are treating as winnable.
Trump's endorsement.
A 10-to-1 fundraising advantage and 1.5 million more Republicans than Democrats on the voter rolls.
What he doesn't have is the outgoing governor willing to pick up the phone and say yes.
Sources:
- A.G. Gancarski, "Ron DeSantis won't commit to campaigning 'with or for' Byron Donalds yet," Florida Politics, August 26, 2026.
- Staff, "Byron Donalds, David Jolly sail to victory in Florida Primary race for governor," CBS12, August 18, 2026.
- Staff, "Too close to call? Democratic internal poll shows David Jolly one point ahead of Byron Donalds," Florida Politics, August 19, 2026.
- Staff, "How Ron DeSantis turned Florida's governor race into a Republican family feud," CNN Politics, July 18, 2026.
