Five Florida legislators flipped their endorsements from Florida Governor Ron DeSantis to former President Donald Trump in the race for the Republican presidential nomination.
The five who flipped from DeSantis to Trump include State Reps. Jessica Baker, Webster Barnaby, Alina Garcia, Kevin Steele, and State Sen. Debbie Mayfield.
“As instability grows around the world and economic uncertainty takes root here at home, folks across my district tell me constantly they want to see President Donald Trump back in the White House and Gov. Ron DeSantis back on the job here in Florida, finishing the work he promised to do less than a year ago,” Baker said in a statement to The Messenger, the news outlet that first reported the endorsements.
DeSantis’s team said his detractors didn’t mean much in the race and touted his endorsements in Iowa.
“Ron DeSantis is dominating the field — including the former president — in supportive state legislative endorsements from across the country,” spokesman Bryan Griffin told The Messenger. “In Iowa, DeSantis holds a historic count of 41 state legislative endorsements, which far surpasses Trump … And, in Florida, DeSantis has nearly 100 state legislators endorsing his run for president. That, too, is a number that significantly outpaces Trump.”
The seven endorsements follow another DeSantis defector, State Rep. Randy Fine, who endorsed Trump two weeks ago.
Trump also has the support of the majority of Florida’s congressional delegation, including Reps. Byron Donalds, Matt Gaetz, and Anna Paulina Luna. Fourteen of Florida’s Republican congress members have endorsed the former president, while one has endorsed DeSantis, according to The Messenger.
Wonder why??