GOP investor James Fishback is entering the Florida governor’s race, challenging Trump’s pick

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Another GOP contender has launched a bid to succeed Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis as Florida’s next governor, teeing up a broader challenge to President Donald Trump ‘s chosen candidate to lead his adopted home state.

James Fishback, a 30-year-old investor who lives in Florida’s rural Panhandle region, formally announced his candidacy Monday, immediately taking shots at Republican Rep. Byron Donalds, who has Trump’s endorsement and the inside track on the race to replace DeSantis, who can’t run again in 2026.

In an announcement video, Fishback criticized Donalds’ congressional record and echoed talking points from the popular governor, who has had a rocky relationship with Trump after DeSantis challenged him for their party’s presidential nomination in 2023.

Following the governor’s footsteps, Fishback has pledged to eliminate property taxes and is taking aim at H-1B visas, which are meant to allow American companies to bring in people with technical skills that are hard to find in the United States.

“Florida is our home, America is our birthright, and we will never let them steal it from us,” Fishback said.

Fishback is targeting legal and illegal immigration, and apparently defending Florida’s slaveholding past, echoing other Republican leaders who have seized on white grievance to animate the GOP’s most passionate voters, who are overwhelmingly white. If elected, Donalds would be the state’s first Black governor.

“I’m a proud American who will never apologize for our history,” Fishback said in his announcement video, followed by a close-up shot of a monument to Confederate soldiers in Jackson County, Florida.

In a statement, Donalds’ campaign leaned on his backing from Trump and dismissed Fishback as a “RINO” or Republican in name only.

“Byron Donalds will be Florida’s next governor because he is the proven conservative fighter endorsed by President Trump,” said Ryan Smith, chief strategist for Donalds’ campaign. “Anyone running against him is an anti-Trump RINO and will get crushed in the Republican primary.”

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Kate Payne is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.