Top conservative group aligns with Trump as it makes major endorsement in race to succeed DeSantis

EXCLUSIVE – A leading conservative organization that has long been a major player in GOP primary battles is putting its weight behind the candidate endorsed by President Donald Trump in the race to succeed term-limited Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida.

The Club for Growth PAC, a political arm of the Club for Growth public advocacy organization, on Tuesday endorsed Rep. Byron Donalds in Florida’s 2026 gubernatorial race. The development was shared first with Fox News.

Donalds, a conservative former state lawmaker who has represented Florida’s 19th Congressional District in the southwest part of the state, is currently the only major Republican to launch a campaign. 

The staunch Trump supporter and House ally announced his candidacy during an appearance on Fox News’ “Hannity” late last month, days after landing the president’s endorsement.

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Donalds was backed by the Club when he first won the congressional seat in 2020. The Club notes that it spent $2.5 million to help Donalds narrowly emerge from a nine-way Republican primary contest en route to his general election victory.

And Donalds enjoys a 100% lifetime rating by the group, which tracks how members of Congress vote on economic issues. The Club promotes a fiscally conservative agenda, including a focus on tax cuts and other economic issues. 

“Rep. Byron Donalds is a proven constitutional conservative who has consistently demonstrated his commitment to pro-growth economic policies, school freedom, and limited government principles,” Club for Growth PAC President David McIntosh told Fox News Digital in a statement. “Club for Growth PAC is proud to have supported Rep. Donalds since his first election to Congress in 2020, and we look forward to electing him as Florida’s next Governor.”

The Club for Growth PAC is affiliated with Club for Growth Action, which describes itself as “America’s largest independent conservative Super PAC.” The Club notes that in the 2024 cycle, candidates endorsed by the PAC won 73% of their races. 

The endorsement of Donalds comes as Florida first lady Casey DeSantis has acknowledged she is considering a 2026 gubernatorial run to succeed her husband in Tallahassee.

Trump and Florida’s first couple had breakfast together a week and a half ago at the president’s West Palm Beach golf course, and also played a round of golf. The governor shared a photo of his wife and Trump from the golf outing on social media.

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A Republican source in Florida confirmed to Fox News that the governor and first lady used their face-to-face time with Trump, in part, to appeal to the president to not further engage in the gubernatorial race beyond his initial endorsement of Donalds.

The president, who moved his primary residence to Florida in 2019, took to social media last month to write that Donalds – who was a major surrogate for Trump on the 2024 campaign trail – “would be a truly Great and Powerful Governor for Florida.”

Trump added that Donalds, “should he decide to run, will have my Complete and Total Endorsement. RUN, BYRON, RUN!”

An internal poll conducted for Donalds’ campaign indicated the congressman edging Casey DeSantis by single digits in a hypothetical GOP primary showdown. But the survey suggested that Donalds’ lead surged to more than 20 points when respondents were informed that he is supported by Trump, whose sway over the GOP is stronger than ever.

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The Club’s endorsement of Donalds is their first effort this cycle to align with Trump in high-profile primaries.

McIntosh and the Club have had an up-and-down relationship with Trump. They opposed him as he ran for the White House in 2016 before embracing him as an ally. In the 2022 cycle, Trump and the Club teamed up in some high-profile GOP primaries but clashed over combustible Senate nomination battles in Alabama, Ohio and Pennsylvania.

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Additionally, the Club was on the outs with Trump as the 2024 Republican presidential nomination race got underway. Trump repeatedly criticized McIntosh and the Club, referring to them as “The Club for NO Growth,” and claimed they were “an assemblage of political misfits, globalists, and losers.”

However, Trump and McIntosh made peace about a year ago, with Trump saying in March 2024, as he was wrapping up the GOP presidential nomination, that they were “back in love” after the protracted falling out.

“I think you’ll see Club for Growth PACs work closely with President Trump, his political team,” McIntosh told Fox News Digital in an exclusive interview last month. “We’re definitely going to be working closely with his policy team to get the tax bill through. A lot of the legislation that we both agree is really important for turning things around in the country.”