TALLAHASSEE, Florida — Gov. Ron DeSantis on Friday criticized top officials in the Republican Party of Florida after the party announced it was not holding a gubernatorial debate at its “Sunshine State Showdown” party gathering being held later this month in South Florida.
The party said it made that decision because Rep. Byron Donalds — who has been endorsed by President Donald Trump but not DeSantis — was the only candidate to meet internal qualification criteria based on polls and fundraising. Other GOP candidates include Lt. Gov. Jay Collins and former state House Speaker Paul Renner.
But DeSantis contended the party was trying to “engineer the outcome” and should have pressed to have the debate in what he says may be a “tough cycle” for Republicans in 2026.
“There should be a debate, they said there would be a debate,” DeSantis told reporters at a press conference on battling Medicaid fraud in West Palm Beach. “Having an open process and having people be able to have their say is always better than trying to engineer an outcome. What the party should be doing is what’s in the best interest of Republican voters.”
The upcoming “Sunshine State Showdown,” being held at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino on June 27, is supposed to be a signature moment for Republicans ahead of the midterm elections.
But the governor’s remarks add to turbulence surrounding against the event. State party officials earlier this week offered a speaking slot to James Fishback, the provocative GOP candidate for governor who is extremely critical of Israel and has called Donalds a “slave” to his donors. The decision to invite Fishback prompted Rep. Randy Fine, a Jewish Republican from central Florida, to announce he would not attend what he labeled a “neo-Nazi rally.”
Then on Friday, the party announced it was rescinding its invitation to Fishback because they said he planned to participate in an “unsanctioned” GOP primary debate in July.
“After conversations with numerous Republican leaders, grassroots activists, and stakeholders from across Florida, it has become clear that entertaining Mr. Fishback’s overtures to participate in official Republican Party activities was a mistake,” said Evan Power, the chair of the Republican Party of Florida, in a statement.
Power added that another reason for the decision was because Fishback “has continued his antisemitic and racist attacks on members of our party.”
In a text message, Fishback said that the “same Republican Party of Florida that refuses to host a debate is now mad at me for agreeing to a debate with CBS News in Jacksonville on July 15th. What a joke.” Fishback added that he would host his own rally on the same night of the state convention and “I guarantee that we’ll have more people there than them.”
Regarding the decision to forgo a debate, DeSantis asserted that under the criteria used by the party — and which was not made public until this week — he would not have qualified when he ran for governor back in 2018. DeSantis ran against a Republican primary foe who had gotten the backing of much of the GOP establishment that year.
The party said the debate threshold criteria included reaching at least 10 percent in a poll of primary voters conducted by the party, as well at raising at least $10 million in contributions and having more than 10,000 donors. Bill Helmich, the party’s executive director, sent out a memo Friday morning to other Republican officials that called this a “reasonable and accessible threshold.”
Power did not respond directly to the governor’s criticisms. But he said the governor was polling between 17 percent and 21 percent at this time back in 2018 and that moved higher after he was endorsed by Trump. Records also show DeSantis would have exceeded fundraising thresholds as well.
In a text message, Power added that “we have welcomed many leading candidates to make their pitch directly to the voters at the showdown.”
DeSantis remains a powerful force among Republicans in Florida even as GOP lawmakers in the state have felt more emboldened to confront him as his second term comes to a close. He has made it clear he will not support Donalds in the race to succeed him, but DeSantis has also declined to endorse any of Donalds primary rivals.
While the party has agreed to let several Republican candidates for governor speak from the stage, that has not satisfied those challenging Donalds.
Collins said Friday in a social media post that Donalds was “hiding behind” the party, while Fishback called him “cowardly” for refusing to debate his primary rivals.
The Donalds campaign on Friday pointed to a statement issued earlier in the week where Gates McGavick, a spokesperson for Donalds, said it is “not Byron’s job to legitimize campaigns that have failed to gained meaningful support.”
Earlier this month, Donalds brushed aside the debate question when asked by POLITICO.
“The crazy part is, I love to debate,” Donalds said. “But when you’re talking about debates, I mean, you actually have to have a campaign.”
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