{"id":59929,"date":"2025-11-25T07:56:17","date_gmt":"2025-11-25T07:56:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/59929\/"},"modified":"2025-11-25T07:56:17","modified_gmt":"2025-11-25T07:56:17","slug":"james-fishback-enters-florida-governor-face-challenging-trumps-pick","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/59929\/","title":{"rendered":"James Fishback enters Florida governor face, challenging Trump’s pick"},"content":{"rendered":"

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) \u2014 Another GOP contender has launched a bid to succeed Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis<\/a> as Florida\u2019s next governor, teeing up a broader challenge to President Donald Trump<\/a> \u2018s chosen candidate to lead his adopted home state.<\/p>\n

James Fishback, a 30-year-old investor who lives in Florida\u2019s rural Panhandle region, formally announced his candidacy Monday, immediately taking shots at Republican Rep. Byron Donalds<\/a>, who has Trump\u2019s endorsement<\/a> and the inside track on the race to replace DeSantis, who can\u2019t run again in 2026.<\/p>\n

In an announcement video, Fishback criticized Donalds\u2019 congressional record and echoed talking points from the popular governor, who has had a rocky relationship<\/a> with Trump after DeSantis challenged him<\/a> for their party\u2019s presidential nomination in 2023.<\/p>\n

Following the governor\u2019s footsteps, Fishback has pledged to eliminate property taxes and is taking aim at H-1B visas<\/a>, which are meant to allow American companies to bring in people with technical skills that are hard to find in the United States.<\/p>\n

\u201cFlorida is our home, America is our birthright, and we will never let them steal it from us,\u201d Fishback said.<\/p>\n

Fishback is targeting legal and illegal immigration, and apparently defending Florida\u2019s slaveholding past, echoing other Republican leaders who have seized on white grievance<\/a> to animate the GOP\u2019s most passionate voters, who are overwhelmingly white. If elected, Donalds would be the state\u2019s first Black governor.<\/p>\n

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\u201cI\u2019m a proud American who will never apologize for our history,\u201d Fishback said in his announcement video, followed by a close-up shot of a monument to Confederate soldiers in Jackson County, Florida.<\/p>\n

In a statement, Donalds\u2019 campaign leaned on his backing from Trump and dismissed Fishback as a \u201cRINO\u201d or Republican in name only.<\/p>\n

\u201cByron Donalds will be Florida\u2019s next governor because he is the proven conservative fighter endorsed by President Trump,\u201d said Ryan Smith, chief strategist for Donalds\u2019 campaign. \u201cAnyone running against him is an anti-Trump RINO and will get crushed in the Republican primary.\u201d<\/p>\n

___ <\/p>\n

Kate Payne is a corps member for The Associated Press\/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America<\/a> is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) \u2014 Another GOP contender has launched a bid to succeed Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis as…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":59930,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[445,1881,409,2715,1882,28,30,29,16015,477,28912,1137,30587,99,412,36423,1110,30276],"class_list":["post-59929","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-florida","tag-byron-donalds","tag-domestic-news","tag-donald-trump","tag-elections","tag-fl-state-wire","tag-florida","tag-florida-headlines","tag-florida-news","tag-florida-state-government","tag-general-news","tag-james-fishback","tag-kate-payne","tag-local-news-for-apple","tag-politics","tag-ron-desantis","tag-ryan-smith","tag-u-s-news","tag-u-s-republican-party"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59929","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=59929"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59929\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/59930"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=59929"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=59929"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=59929"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}