\u201cI was very happy not running for\u00a0office,\u201d Renner said. \u201cBut looking at and knowing the candidates who were in or might be in\u00a0\u2014\u00a0frankly, I wasn\u2019t going to sit on the couch, or I didn\u2019t want to sit on the couch and see a slow-motion car crash where you have someone who\u2019s more transactional who\u2019s not, in my opinion, qualified or fit to be governor.\u00a0So\u00a0I started praying about it with a bias really against it, like \u2018You\u00a0gotta\u00a0make this really clear to me.\u2019\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Renner said an encounter with a guest at last year\u2019s\u00a0Apopka Mayor\u2019s Prayer Breakfast<\/a>\u00a0helped him\u00a0make\u00a0his final\u00a0decision.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI felt like he was going to speak to me about the governor\u2019s race,\u201d Renner said.\u00a0\u201cSure enough, he came to me and said, \u2018I was praying Monday and felt I should tell you that you ought to consider running for governor.\u2019\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n In his effort to persuade the audience, Renner especially emphasized his fiscal accomplishments as speaker of the\u00a0House,\u00a0including balancing the budget and paying off debt ahead of time.\u00a0Renner\u00a0said\u00a0decreases\u00a0in property taxes, utility rates, and healthcare costs\u00a0would be\u00a0among his top priorities should he win the election.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThe first order of business has to be, I believe, for the next governor, affordability and bringing down the cost of things as much as we can, and that means going after property taxes and bringing those down,\u201d Renner said.\u00a0\u201cWe have people on\u00a0a\u00a0fixed income who are leaving the state after being here for 30-plus\u00a0years because they can no longer afford to live here. That will be my day one priority.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Renner also discussed stricter punishment for sex traffickers and predators in Florida, noting that \u201c200,000 people in Florida are estimated to be trafficked for sex every year, and half of them are minors.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cPeople will spend, on average, over 30 years on death row,\u201d Renner said. \u201cA\u00a0person who raped and murdered a\u00a06-year-old girl<\/a>\u00a0was on death row for\u00a0[46]\u00a0years, and I think\u00a0that\u2019s\u00a0a slap in the face of every victim\u2019s family to grow old and die before they ever see justice.\u00a0We\u2019llhave a three-year appeal process, and\u00a0that\u2019s\u00a0it.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n He also praised current\u00a0Gov.\u00a0Ron DeSantis for his activist approach to the role of governor and his commitment to going beyond the \u201cjob description.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThis governor has done a good job of really leaning in and being more aggressive on things that matter than a lot of other Republican governors,\u201d Renner said. \u201cHe was really getting after things like amendments three and four, the pot and abortion amendments.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Ultimately, Renner\u00a0said he hopes to\u00a0maintain\u00a0Florida\u2019s status as a \u201cbeacon\u201d for other states.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe have been the model for so many other states, and so that\u2019s why I say you cannot hand off the state of Florida, the third largest state in America,\u201d Renner\u00a0said.\u00a0<\/p>\n The\u00a0Florida primary election is scheduled for Aug. 18. The general\u00a0election\u00a0will\u00a0take place\u00a0Nov. 3<\/a>. Other\u00a0notable\u00a0candidates<\/a>\u00a0includeOrange County\u00a0mayor\u00a0Jerry Demings<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0former Congressman David Jolly on the Democratic side, and\u00a0Congressman Byron Donalds\u00a0on the Republican side.<\/p>\n Sarah Merly is an editorial assistant and reporter for The Apopka Chief. She joined the Chief in May 2025 after graduating from Patrick Henry College’s journalism program in Washington, D.C. In her spare time, Sarah loves watching rom-coms, visiting Disney, and throwing parties.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/2-1.png\")
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