Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz slammed recent reports claiming he was considering a run for the state gubernatorial position, denying them and saying he is focusing on supporting former United States President Donald Trump's 2024 campaign.
The idea of Gaetz running for the Florida governor's position has been the subject of many conversations in Tallahassee in the last few days. These moments include a reception on Sunday night that was for the incoming speaker of the Florida House.
Matt Gaetz for Florida Governor
The Republican lawmaker has been seen as being on the shortlist of people who will try to seek the GOP nomination for governor. This is a field that many expect would be crowded because the incumbent, Gov. Ron DeSantis, will be facing term limits.
The latter is currently also running for president of the United States but would have two years remaining in the governor's mansion if he fails to win in that race. Gaetz, similar to other Florida Republican politicians, attended the designation ceremony of Miami Republican state Rep. Danny Perez in Tallahassee, who is set to start next year, as per NBC News.
During the event held at an AC Hotel by Marriott near the city's downtown, four people said that Gaetz was seen "kind of holding court," where he allegedly strongly implied several times that he was planning to run for governor.
One longtime Florida Republican lobbyist said there was much talk regarding that particular topic during the event. He added that Gaetz told other people to expect him to be in the gubernatorial race in 2026.
When initially asked about the Sunday event, Gaetz said many people encouraged him to consider running for governor one day. However, he said that the state currently has an outstanding governor who will remain in that position until the end of his term.
Denying the Claims
Gaetz has, in recent years, been the focus of a Department of Justice investigation into allegations that he had a sexual relationship with a 17-year-old and paid her to travel with him, that he violated the Mann Act by taking a woman or women across state lines for prostitution, as well as obstruction of justice, according to People.
In a recent interview, the Republican denied the claims that he was planning to run for Florida governor. He said he ran into dozens of former colleagues from his days in the state Legislature. Gaetz noted that while they often encouraged him to consider the idea, he was not focused on that type of discussion.
The situation comes as Gaetz is in his fourth term in the House and has said his political priority is campaigning for Trump. He was previously an ally of DeSantis and worked as a top campaign adviser to the governor during the 2018 election.
Since then, Gaetz and DeSantis have had a falling out, and the former supported Trump in the latter's endeavors. Gaetz has also regularly pushed baseless 2020 election fraud claims and came in defense of the former president's alleged interference in the results, said Axios.
