Florida GOP lawmakers are ready to find out if Gov. Ron DeSantis will punish them for supporting former President Donald Trump.
More than a dozen legislators are now waiting to see if DeSantis will eliminate their preferred hometown projects from the annual budget after officially supporting Trump over the governor during the contentious GOP presidential primary.
By electing Trump, lawmakers faced one of Florida’s most powerful governors, who has retaliated against perceived enemies and pushed his agenda through the Legislature, including opposing Walt Disney World and Democratic state attorneys and pressuring lawmakers to pass a congressional map drawn by his staff.
“There’s always that concern,” said Trump supporter and GOP Rep. Paula Stark of Kissimmee, whose budget priorities included financing for lake cleanups and semiconductors.
“I hope the concern is unfounded,” she stated. “I would like to believe that the governor is going to do the best thing for the citizens of our state, no matter what.”
The budget that lawmakers passed is almost $3 billion more than what DeSantis requested, and the governor, who has the power to veto specific provisions, has already stated that there would need to be “a little trimming to do” in order to be fiscally responsible.
His staff did not respond to queries about how he would pick which areas of the budget to target, nor did it address lawmakers’ concerns about political intentions.
Even before DeSantis announced his presidential campaign, the vast majority of Republican state lawmakers endorsed him. They not only supported the governor’s conservative goals during the race but also assisted him in fundraising. Many others flew to Iowa in January to trek through snow in negative 20-degree weather to knock on doors on his behalf.
However, many of the 14 members who embraced Trump—oor switched to him when it became evident DeSantis would lose the Iowa caucuses—aare concerned that their main concerns are now at risk. One communication seen by POLITICO revealed that several of the members were on a text chain named “Superheroes.”
GOP Rep. Juan Carlos Porras of Miami revealed having “contentious” moments prior to his Trump endorsement when other Republicans attempted to persuade him to sign a pledge card for DeSantis. However, he stated that he supported Trump because it was evident when he campaigned in 2022 that Trump would be his supporters’ preferred candidate.
“I chose a side very early on, very much knowing the risks, very much knowing what could have happened,” he told reporters.
Porras stated that during this session, he assisted in securing state money for pro bono clinics through the Cuban American Bar Association and the University of Miami Stroke Center.
“If the governor wants to play politics based on his losing presidential race and hurt a lot of our residents, I don’t think that’s the way you come back and make alliances,” he told the audience.
Not all state lawmakers who supported Trump are anxious that DeSantis will reduce their budget requests. Republican state Sen. Ana Maria Rodriguez said she endorsed Trump because “he’s the right person for this time” and has known the former president for more than a decade as a Doral councilmember, but she also said she was “respectful” and “supportive” of DeSantis as governor. Rodriguez represents the Keys and has prioritized environmental expenditures in the budget.
“I’m not too concerned because his constituents are my constituents. So, if he is going to injure anyone, it will be his own constituents.” He’s not really hurting me,” she explained. “There’s always the thought, ‘Oh, will it hurt? Will he go after those who supported his opponent? I am not bothered about it. If that’s the route he wants to pursue, that’s his call.”
Lawmakers’ anxieties are rooted in prior experiences. In 2022, DeSantis ordered then-Senate President Wilton Simpson to appear on stage with him as he eliminated a record $3.1 billion from the budget, including a $50 road-widening project in Simpson’s district. Simpson publicly stated that it had nothing to do with him personally. However, when DeSantis reduced Simpson’s priorities after he became agriculture commissioner in 2023, Simpson stated that there was “no conceivable reason to target agriculture in a year when we have billions of dollars in reserves.”
GOP Sen. Joe Gruters of Sarasota, a longtime Trump supporter, told POLITICO that he still believes DeSantis targeted him with millions of dollars in vetoes last year for supporting the former president. The governor’s staff dismissed the charge as “absurd” at the time, blaming DeSantis’ budget vetoes on “conservative governance and fiscal responsibility” rather than politics.
When asked if he had similar fears this year, Gruters replied that he hoped his modest number of projects would be authorized.
“I am hoping that all that’s in the past and that Sarasota will come out OK,” he went on to say.
GOP Rep. Randy Fine of Palm Bay switched his vote from DeSantis to Trump after writing a blistering essay in the Washington Times accusing the governor of failing to combat antisemitism in Florida. The words came shortly after Hamas’ attack on Israel.
Fine, the lone Jewish Republican in the Florida Legislature, had several goals this year, including passing legislation to define antisemitism, providing recurring money to protect Jewish day schools, and lowering the wait list for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities to receive home care.
Fine said the bills did not “poke the bear,” and he had one budget request this year: $20 million for security at Jewish day schools. Given his pro-Israel stance and other policies as governor, DeSantis is almost certain to approve the funds, including securing flights from Israel following the Hamas attack to assist in the return of Americans to the US.
Fine said DeSantis vetoed approximately 25% of his projects last year before flipping, saying it was evidence that the governor “takes a hard look at everything” and that the notion that DeSantis vetoes for payback was an “interpretation.”
“I don’t think everyone who did endorse him is going to get any vetoes,” he went on to say.
DeSantis’ potential participation in state lawmakers’ futures may extend beyond the budget.
Lawmakers are up for election in November, and the governor may try to involve himself in state races. Fine, for example, is running for the state Senate and has lately received Trump’s endorsement.
“My advice to [DeSantis] would be: the election is over,” Fine went on to say. “Let’s create some friends and go forward. I don’t see any use in looking back.”
