Palm Beach County Republicans are heading into a Florida governor’s race that is already turning into a proxy fight over President Donald Trump’s endorsement and where the early front-runner is leaning into it.
U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds, a Naples Republican endorsed by Trump, put out a campaign statement this week aimed at “new entrants” in the Florida Republican primary for governor. The statement, attributed to campaign chief strategist Ryan Smith, framed the race as a loyalty test inside the party and warned off challengers in blunt terms.
“Trump-endorsed Byron Donalds is the only proven conservative fighter who can unite Republicans, deliver on the President’s America First agenda, crush the Democrats, and make Florida more affordable,” Smith said in the statement. “Anyone running against Byron is an anti-Trump RINO and will be soundly defeated in the Republican primary.”
The statement landed as the 2026 field continues to take shape and as Donalds’ campaign points to new polling as proof of early strength. A poll described by the campaign as a fresh look at the 2026 Florida Republican gubernatorial primary shows Donalds with a clear advantage over other named Republicans.
In a separate polling summary circulated by the campaign, the latest Mason-Dixon poll of registered Republicans found 37% would vote for Donalds if the election were held at the time of the survey. The same polling summary listed 7% for Lt. Gov. Jay Collins, 4% for former Florida House Speaker Paul Renner, and 3% for Azoria CEO James Fishback. The campaign also highlighted that Donalds was the only candidate in that poll “in double-digits,” and said the poll found 52% of Republicans held a favorable opinion of Donalds.
While the campaign’s statement targeted rivals as a group, it was also a signal about how Donalds intends to prosecute the primary: by tying his candidacy directly to Trump and branding opposition as out of step with the party’s dominant wing.
Donalds also picked up a new organizational endorsement. Turning Point Action, the political advocacy group founded by Charlie Kirk, announced it is backing Donalds for governor.
“It’s an honor to have Turning Point Action’s endorsement,” Donalds said in a statement released by the campaign. He credited the group’s work and described his message as tied to public safety, the economy, and “putting America First,” while saying he wants Florida to “take Florida to the next level.”
The campaign has also been pushing a growing endorsements list as part of the same argument: that Donalds is consolidating establishment support in the party at the same time he is positioning himself as the Trump-aligned candidate. In the material circulated by the campaign, Donalds is described as having support that includes Trump, Elon Musk, U.S. House leadership, 27 Florida sheriffs, 17 members of Florida’s congressional delegation, and 75% of the Republican caucus in the Florida House. The campaign also said this week that Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders endorsed Donalds, describing her as the first sitting governor to back him.
What happens next is likely to be a test of whether other Republicans can break through in a race Donalds is trying to define early, both culturally and numerically: Trump endorsement on one side, “anti-Trump” branding on the other, and polling used as a scoreboard.
For Palm Beach County and the rest of South Florida, the immediate impact is that the tone of the race is hardening fast. Voters should expect more endorsement rollouts, more internal polling, and sharper attacks as the field grows and as campaigns try to lock down donors, activists, and local party infrastructure long before ballots are cast.
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