A poll conducted by the University of North Florida (UNF) is suggesting Casey DeSantis, the state’s first lady and wife of Governor Ron DeSantis, is the early favorite to replace her husband when his term expires in 2026. In a hypothetical Republican primary matchup, Florida’s first lady leads the field with 22 percent of the vote while Republican Congressmen Matt Gaetz and Byron Donalds – both considered likely to enter Florida’s gubernatorial race – laughably tied for for second at nine percent.
The risible poll from UNF comes after months of scrutiny over the current DeSantis administration’s transactional politics. The 2023-2024 Florida budget, approved by DeSantis in June, allocated over $30 million in new funding to UNF for several major expansions of the campus.
The political ambitions of Casey DeSantis – who changed her name from Jill, as well as changing how “DeSantis” is pronounced – are somewhat of an ‘open secret’ among Republicans in both Tallahassee and Washington, D.C. While previous first ladies in Florida largely avoided the limelight and wielded little influence over the day-to-day operations in the Governor’s Office, Casey DeSantis has done the opposite. Unafraid to wield the political power she’s accumulated, Casey DeSantis has come to hold significant influence over her husband’s gubernatorial administration and his 2024 presidential campaign. A glowing corporate media profile even suggested she’s more ‘Florida’s co-governor’ than first lady.
The outsized role and influence of Casey DeSantis in Florida politics has left some veteran Republican strategist concerned and even fearful. A former DeSantis administration staffer told POLITICO, “He’s a leader who makes political decisions with the assistance of his wife, who was elected by nobody, who’s blindly ambitious.” A senior staffer who served on one of Ron DeSantis’s congressional campaigns was more blunt, “He’s a vindictive motherfucker. She’s twice that. She’s the scorekeeper.”
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