The sun is setting on Gov. Ron DeSantis’s second term as Florida governor, especially after last night’s primary election.
The race to become Florida’s next governor is set after Republican Byron Donalds and Democrat David Jolly won their respective primary contests Aug. 18. Donalds had 48% of the GOP primary vote, while Jolly had 61% of the Democratic vote.
According to the state elections office’s preliminary numbers, 1,326,440 Floridians voted on Election Day. As of 8 a.m. on Aug. 19, 1,239,312 vote-by-mail ballots had been received, and 818,176 people cast their ballots during the early-voting period.
DeSantis, who has led some of the most significant changes Florida has seen in the modern age, officially leaves office in January, when his second term ends. What will he do next?
DeSantis leaves the Florida governor’s mansion on Jan. 5, 2027.
The governor has mostly kept silent in public about his plans, preferring to focus on his remaining time in office. However, he has alluded to possibly spending time outside of politics for a bit, according to Florida Politics in June.
“I’m in my mid-40s; who knows what life will hold in the future?” he told Dave Rubin on the “Rubin Report” show.
“I have a lot of people that want me to do a lot of different things, but I think I owe it to the voters to just run through the tape here. We’ll come out on the other side.”
“I mean, it’s been an honor for sure, and we’ve gotten a lot done,” he added about his tenure as governor, but the outlet notes he said he may just “do things in the private sector, whatever, for a little bit.”
He could, but if he’s having Oval Office thoughts, he’s not sharing them.
DeSantis ran for president in 2024, but dropped out after finishing far behind President Donald Trump in the Iowa primary. Trump insiders have said he approached the president earlier this year for a cabinet position, according to Axios.
DeSantis met with Trump in April at Trump National Doral Golf Club in Miami, a few weeks after Trump fired Floridian former Attorney General Pam Bondi, and Axios reported he was angling for her job.
“Ron was begging me to be AG,” Trump reportedly told a confidante, who relayed it to Axios. Bondi’s role was temporarily filled by Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, formerly one of Trump’s personal lawyers, who can serve for 210 days before a Senate confirmation hearing is required.
DeSantis has at least one supporter in his corner. U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds, the current Republican candidate set to potentially replace him, recommended DeSantis on conservative talk show host Benny Johnson‘s podcast.
“I think he actually would make a very good Attorney General,” Donalds said in an interview released May 4, “because knowing Governor DeSantis, he will make sure that he looks through everything with a fine-tooth comb to hold people accountable. And I think that’s a spot he could be incredibly well-suited for. But there’s so many different opportunities.”
DeSantis holds a law degree from Harvard Law and served as a judge advocate general (JAG) officer in the U.S. Navy before being appointed to serve as a special assistant U.S. attorney at the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Middle District of Florida until his discharge in 2010.
After that, he co-founded an LSAT test-prep company and worked as a litigator at the Miami-based law firm Holland & Knight before starting his political career in 2012.
It’s unknown. Trump is known to reward loyalty. However, DeSantis has defied him on several occasions, including running against him in the 2024 presidential race.
Another wild card is the influence of Trump’s chief of staff, Susie Wiles, who led DeSantis’ 2018 gubernatorial campaign to victory but was fired from the transition team after the Tampa Bay Times published an internal memo with her name on it, detailing an “aggressive” fundraising scheme. Wiles has denied leaking any documents.
DeSantis also got Wiles released from Trump’s re-election campaign in 2019, according to Politico, although Trump reinstated her in 2020 and has kept her in his inner circle ever since. But after DeSantis dropped out of the presidential race, Wiles posted a rare X post: “Bye, bye.”
DeSantis has led the charge against illegal immigration, a key Trump priority, and has publicly praised many of Trump’s policies.
The Florida governor was also the first to officially use Trump’s new name for the Gulf of America. When asked recently about appointing DeSantis to a post, he told reporters, “Well, I like him a lot.”
DeSantis may not run for governor this year because he has already served two consecutive terms. No one can run for three terms in a row.
Article IV of the Florida Constitution says, “No person who has, or but for resignation would have, served as governor or acting governor for more than six years in two consecutive terms shall be elected governor for the succeeding term.”
Possibly. Once someone else has served as governor, any future terms for DeSantis would not be consecutive with his previous terms, and his clock would start over.
But as the successful leader of a powerful state, DeSantis will likely not face a shortage of options, whatever his plans.
The Florida general election day will be Nov. 3, two days after we turn clocks back an hour for the end of daylight saving time on Nov. 1.
Here are key deadlines to be aware of:
Samantha Neely is a trending reporter for the USA TODAY NETWORK-Florida, covering pop culture, theme parks, breaking news and more. You can get all of Florida’s best content directly in your inbox each weekday by signing up for the free newsletter, Florida TODAY, at https://floridatoday.com/newsletters.
Gov. Ron DeSantis leaves office soon. What could he do next? – Tallahassee Democrat
