The official word is that Kevin Guthrie resigned.
Gov. Ron DeSantis said Tuesday he had accepted the resignation of his emergency management chief, one day after Guthrie joined Lt. Gov. Jay Collins’ ticket as his running mate in the Republican Primary for Governor.
Guthrie’s farewell message to Division of Emergency Management (DEM) staff, sent by group text Wednesday morning and obtained by Florida Politics, tells a different story.
“I knew my choice was a gamble and even a long shot,” Guthrie wrote. “But I never imagined that I would lose my job for being added.”
Guthrie wrote that the past 36 hours had not gone as he thought they would — “Not from a standpoint of the election but from the point of consequences.”
“Regardless, no one can change the past,” he continued. “My only regret is that I didn’t get to see the people. My vision of leaving one day is I would walk the halls and shake everyone’s hand and thank them, desk by desk. I didn’t get that opportunity and that will be with me forever.”
The Governor’s Office has not said whether DeSantis asked for the resignation or Guthrie offered it, as the Herald/Times Tallahassee Bureau’s Liv Caputo reports. What DeSantis did say, at an unrelated news event Tuesday, was that “it’s important we have emergency management just focused on emergency management.”
“I don’t want to be in a situation where there’s politics in emergency management,” the Governor added. “I think you got to choose one or the other.”
Transportation Secretary Jared Perdue is taking over DEM — news that appeared to catch even Perdue’s own agency off guard. When the Tampa Bay Times asked a Florida Department of Transportation spokesperson Tuesday when Perdue agreed to the move, she said she was “not familiar with that.” Guthrie himself told the Times on Monday that if he resigned, he assumed his deputy would fill his shoes.
Guthrie, who had never before run for office, joined the ticket just hours before polls opened Tuesday. Collins had polled a distant second or third throughout the race behind U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds, who claimed the nomination that night.
The job Guthrie leaves behind is one of the biggest in state government. He steered Florida’s response to Hurricanes Idalia, Helene and Milton and to the Surfside condominium collapse, and over the past year served as the state’s unofficial immigration czar, overseeing the construction and operation of the now-shuttered Alligator Alcatraz detention facility.
None of that made the text. The goodbye he said he never got to deliver in person did.
“My charge to you is learn from this,” he wrote. “Decisions have consequences. Try to think them all the way through.”
And later: “My final thought for each of you is don’t let this stop you from being number 1. We, not me, we set the foundation for an amazing team. Focus on the people, be there when they need you, make sure they know their purpose. Tell them they are doing a good job.”
Guthrie told staff his own landing is already lined up: “I already have a job, and will probably be in Indiana next week. So personally, I will be ok.”
He closed with a request — “be my mouthpiece (to the extent you can-don’t get in trouble) and let your people know I love them, I believe in them, and as my mother would tell all of us … go save lives” — and a sign-off: “Love you all with everything in me. KG.”
Here is a screen grab of Guthrie’s message:
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Ed. note: This story was drafted with assistance from AI. Editorial judgment, sourcing, and final review were performed by Peter Schorsch and the Florida Politics editorial team.
Peter Schorsch is the President of Extensive Enterprises Media and is the publisher of FloridaPolitics.com, INFLUENCE Magazine, and Sunburn, the morning read of what’s hot in Florida politics. Previous to his publishing efforts, Peter was a political consultant to dozens of congressional and state campaigns, as well as several of the state’s largest governmental affairs and public relations firms. Peter lives in St. Petersburg with his wife, Michelle, and their daughter, Ella. Follow Peter on Twitter @PeterSchorschFL.
August 19, 2026 at 4:02 pm
…never imagined that I would lose my job’: Kevin Guthrie’s farewell text to DEM staff
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August 19, 2026 at 4:09 pm
What a baffling series of events. Did he honestly think he could lead the state through hurricane season while campaigning? That he could keep that job? Even for this administration, that would raise so many conflicts. I’m honestly mystified at the sudden lack of any sort of political acumen.
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August 19, 2026 at 8:02 pm
Good riddance, florida can do better.
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