LEHIGH ACRES, Fla. – During a news conference in Lehigh Acres on Thursday, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis gave a nod to a Republican candidate vying to take over his role.
DeSantis touted the state’s education achievements during the conference, though he also touched on the ongoing governor’s race later in the briefing.
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“I’m not involved in any primaries,” he said. “Like I said, if I feel the need — if someone’s out there really doing what I think it takes and would do very well, then I’m happy to get involved.”
While the governor has not yet thrown his endorsement behind any one candidate, he did mention former Florida House Speaker Paul Renner, who is running for the seat.
[RELATED: 6 questions with Paul Renner]
Renner spoke with News 6 late last year after initially announcing his bid for Florida governor, though he notably lacked DeSantis’ endorsement.
In fact, DeSantis said at the time that he wasn’t supporting Renner, calling it an “ill-advised decision to enter the race.”
“When he ran, I said I didn’t advise him to run. It wasn’t because I didn’t think he’d be a good governor,” DeSantis explained on Thursday. “I think he’d be really good. He’s got a great record of policy, but... what’s your strategy to get known? How do you get known to people, right?”
[RELATED: Paul Renner touts ties to DeSantis in governor bid, but lacks endorsement]
His explanation tied to a larger theme of how effective gubernatorial candidates may have a difficult time getting recognition.
“Being governor is different than winning governor,” he stated. “And honestly, what goes into winning it doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll be a good governor. Because a lot of it is recognition, and the way to get recognition in a really big state is you either have to pay for it by buying advertising or you have to generate a lot of free media, which is hard in a state this big.”
Renner is only one of several Republican candidates running in the Florida governor’s race this year. You can find a list of these candidates and their positions here.