Former Florida House Speaker Paul Renner is close to announcing a 2026 run for governor, according to a report last week from FloridaPolitics. If he joined the race, Renner would be one of the foremost Republicans seeking to follow Gov. Ron DeSantis in Tallahassee.
Renner, 58, served in the Florida House of Representatives from 2015 to 2024. He spent the last two years of his tenure as House Speaker, making him arguably the most powerful Florida Republican after Gov. DeSantis. Renner represented Florida’s 19th House district, which covers all of Flagler County and part of St. Johns County.
Paving the way for a potential Renner campaign is incumbent Ron DeSantis’ inability to seek another term. DeSantis was first elected in 2018, and subsequently re-elected in 2022. He’s barred from running again by Florida’s gubernatorial term limit law. Though DeSantis’ first victory saw him beat Democrat Andrew Gillum by less than 33,000 votes out of over 8 million (a 0.5% victory), his re-election in 2022 was a commanding 1.5 million-vote trouncing of Charlie Crist (a 29.4% margin).
If FloridaPolitics’ report proves true, Renner is expected to make his announcement sometime this week. He’s been largely out of the political spotlight since being term-limited from office in the 2024 elections, though in February DeSantis did appoint him to the Board of Governors of the State University System.
The 2026 Florida Governor Election
Two major Republicans have declared thus far in the 2026 Florida gubernatorial election. One is Charles Burkett, the Mayor of Surfside in Miami-Dade County. The other is Byron Donalds, a U.S. representative who’s served Florida’s 19th congressional district since 2021. Already Donalds has secured several high-profile endorsements, including President Donald Trump, Senator Rick Scott, and U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson.
Only one major Democrat has entered the 2026 race so far: former U.S. representative David Jolly. Another notable candidate is running as an independent: Jason Pizzo, who served as the Florida Senate Democratic minority leader in 2024 and 2025. He announced in April that he’d be leaving the Democratic Party.
If Renner did enter the race, it’s plausible he could have the backing of Gov. DeSantis against even a strongly Trump-aligned candidate. DeSantis and Trump have differed on endorsements before, including in the 2024 Florida Senate race in District 7; Trump backed David Shoar while DeSantis chose eventual winner Tom Leek.
