TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — A dispute over Florida’s Republican primary for governor is becoming a debate about a debate, with Gov. Ron DeSantis joining several candidates in calling for a public showdown and the state GOP removing one contender from its upcoming summer gathering.
The Republican Party of Florida told supporters Friday that its June 27 Sunshine State Showdown in Hollywood will not include a full debate between the candidates seeking to succeed the term-limited DeSantis.
The party says candidates had to meet three benchmarks to qualify for a sanctioned debate: at least 10% support in polling, more than $10 million raised and more than 10,000 donors.
Only one candidate cleared all three thresholds: U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds, the Republican front-runner.
The party’s own poll, conducted June 9 and 10, found Donalds leading with 38.8% support. Lt. Gov. Jay Collins followed with 7.6%, businessman James Fishback had 4.1% and former Florida House Speaker Paul Renner had 2.2%.
Nearly 43% of likely Republican primary voters remained undecided.
The RPOF described its standards as reasonable for a large state with multiple media markets. While no formal debate is planned during the Sunshine State Showdown, the party said gubernatorial candidates would still have opportunities to appear on stage and discuss their records and priorities.
Donalds’ rivals argue that is not enough.
Renner said Republican voters deserve a side-by-side comparison before the Aug. 18 primary.
“If you can't stand on the stage with your fellow Republicans, how can you possibly defend the free state of Florida?” Renner said.
Collins has also called for a debate. His campaign launched a website and petition encouraging Donalds to participate.
“Let’s debate,” Collins said when asked whether he had a message for Donalds. “I'm willing to debate, I'm willing to fight, I'm willing to do what I have to do to earn this.”
DeSantis weighed in Friday, criticizing both the qualification criteria and the idea that the party should control the process.
“Yeah, there should be a debate,” DeSantis said. “I’ve heard secondhand what the criteria was. I wouldn't have qualified when I ran in ’18 for what they were trying to do, and so it's counterproductive when you try to engineer an outcome.”
DeSantis argued that debates should be arranged by candidates and media organizations rather than party officials. He warned that limiting participation could alienate voters and weaken confidence in the Republican brand ahead of what he said could be a difficult election cycle.
Donalds has largely dismissed the pressure.
“There are no participation trophies in politics,” Donalds campaign communications director Gates McGavick said in a statement earlier this week. “It is not Byron’s job to legitimize campaigns that have failed to gain meaningful support.”
In an earlier interview, Donalds said he was taking the race “day by day” and did not appear concerned by attacks from his Republican opponents.
“When you have anybody out there that's trying to attack you, what that really means is they want to be in your position,” Donalds said. “They feel they have to try to attack. That's part of the business.”
The debate dispute took another turn Friday when the Florida GOP rescinded Fishback’s invitation to participate in the Sunshine State Showdown candidate forum and other official gubernatorial primary activities.
Fishback had announced plans for a separate July 15 debate, saying it would move forward “whether Byron Donalds shows or not.”
The RPOF said participating in a competing, unsanctioned event violated its rules governing official primary activities. Party Chairman Evan Power also accused Fishback of continuing what Power described as antisemitic and racist attacks against members of the party.
“Racism and antisemitism have no place in our party,” Power said in a statement. “We must hold ourselves to a higher standard and we will continue to do so at the Republican Party of Florida.”
Fishback had been one of the candidates most aggressively pressing Donalds to debate, arguing that the front-runner should face his opponents publicly.
“He wants a job that he is unwilling to sit down for an interview for,” Fishback said before the party rescinded his invitation.
Donalds remains far ahead of his Republican rivals in available polling, with a major fundraising advantage and a long list of endorsements— including President Donald Trump. University of South Florida professor emerita Susan MacManus said his statewide name recognition makes him difficult to displace.
“It's his race to lose,” MacManus said.
