TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Former Florida House Speaker Paul Renner filed to run for governor of Florida on Wednesday, making him the second big-name Republican to jump into the race to replace term-limited Ron DeSantis.
“Many called it the two most conservative years in Florida history,” Renner said of his time as speaker from 2022 to 2024 in an interview Tuesday. “I led a chamber of great men and women … that made Florida what it is today.”
Republican U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds is seen as the front-runner. Not only is he endorsed by President Donald Trump and has been on the campaign trail for months, but he has already socked away $25 million in campaign funds. Donalds announced his bid for governor in March.
Renner, however, sees a path forward in the Republican field, which is most likely not yet settled ahead of the 2026 midterms.
Launching now “allows us to raise money, reach voters in all 67 counties, and at the end of the day people will look at endorsements, but it will all be based on who they trust,” he said.
Renner, who was seen as a close DeSantis ally during his time as speaker, is not likely to get his endorsement. DeSantis is widely viewed as still trying to recruit a candidate he can support who would enter the race in the coming months.
Renner, 48, a Jacksonville-area attorney, was elected to the state House in 2015 and rose to be its presiding officer in 2022. He served in that role until 2024, when he faced term limits.
He oversaw the House during DeSantis’ rise to national prominence and then his failed bid for president. During that time, the Republican-dominated Legislature offered little resistance to DeSantis, handing him legislative win after win to pad his résumé in hope that he would become the first Florida governor to become president.
Among Renner’s biggest accomplishments as speaker were ushering in long-sought insurance reforms touted by the state’s business community and passing sweeping school choice legislation.
“There were those who said, ‘You will never get it done,’” Renner said.
While Donalds has had the mantle of front-runner since he got in the race, he has not been able to freeze the field.
Along with Renner’s entrance, DeSantis is widely expected to recruit a candidate.
Among those he is considering is recently appointed Lt. Gov. Jay Collins, a former state senator who is among his biggest political allies. The position of lieutenant governor, which is not defined in the Florida Constitution, is generally considered sleepy, but it is widely believed that Collins’ pick as DeSantis’ second-in-command was also a signal he may run for governor.
Collins, a decorated former Green Beret, has already had a higher-profile role than is traditional for someone in his post. Most notably, DeSantis dispatched him to California to “ensure” the return to Florida of Harjinder Singh, an Indian immigrant accused of causing an accident while he was driving a semi-truck in Florida that resulted in the deaths of three people who were later identified as Haitian immigrants.
Singh left for California after the accident but had already signed extradition papers in the state ensuring his return to Florida, prompting some critics to call Collins’ trip to get him an unneeded political stunt.
DeSantis’ wife, Casey, who is well known and popular with Florida Republicans, has also considered running over the past months but has so far announced no decision about her political future.