DeSantis will take his fight with legislative leaders to GOP primaries

By Dara Kam ©2025 The News Service of Florida

TALLAHASSEE — Upping the ante in an increasingly acrimonious feud with House and Senate Republican leaders over immigration issues, Gov. Ron DeSantis on Thursday vowed to channel “huge sums” of money to candidates he backs in next year’s GOP gubernatorial and legislative primary elections.

The governor’s message drew condemnation from House Speaker Daniel Perez, R-Miami, as bitterness continued to fester about a bill passed by the Legislature this week amid a dispute over plans aimed at carrying out President Donald Trump’s crackdown on illegal immigration.

DeSantis in a post on X said he intends to unleash the financial power of the Florida Freedom Fund, a political committee he used last year to help defeat proposed constitutional amendments on recreational marijuana and abortion rights.

“The FL Freedom Fund was instrumental in raising huge sums of $ to defeat Amendments 3 and 4 in 2024. For the 2026 cycle, the FFF will raise even more resources (1) to ensure support for a strong conservative gubernatorial candidate and (2) to support strong conservative candidates in legislative primaries. We need to elect strong leaders who will build off FL’s success and who will deliver on the promises made to voters,” DeSantis posted Thursday morning.

The Florida Freedom Fund was one of two political committees chaired by DeSantis’ chief of staff, James Uthmeier, that targeted the ballot initiatives. The committees collectively raised more than $34 million, including roughly $8.6 million in contributions to the Florida Freedom Fund.

DeSantis has barnstormed the state and appeared on conservative radio and television programs to condemn the Legislature’s immigration bill (SB 2-B), calling it “weak” and “pathetic.” Alleging the bill would gut immigration enforcement efforts being conducted by state and local law enforcement agencies, DeSantis is telling Republican voters to contact lawmakers to voice opposition. DeSantis has pledged to veto the bill.

Perez tried to counter DeSantis’ offensive during an online town hall meeting Thursday afternoon with GOP county leaders, many of whom echoed the governor’s concerns.

Perez was asked why he hasn’t worked with DeSantis to improve the measure, which passed late Tuesday.

“It’s tough to want to work with a gentleman that, when he doesn’t get his way, threatens to primary members of the Legislature. That’s a tough place to be in. Instead, have the conversation. Have the conversation, and you can agree to disagree, but threats aren’t going to work in the Legislature. They’re not,” said Perez, who took over as speaker after the November elections.

The bill includes a key provision that would make Agriculture Commissioner Wilton Simpson — a potential 2026 candidate for governor and staunch ally of Trump — the state’s “chief immigration officer” and put his agency in charge of immigration enforcement. Much of the governor’s wrath is focused on that part of the bill, which he has repeatedly called “ridiculous.”

Carmen Edmonds, chair of the Hillsborough County Republican Executive Committee, told Perez she was being “inundated” by calls from people questioning why Simpson should have oversight of immigration.

“My main concern … is just the optics,” Edmonds said. “It looks underhanded. It looks unfortunately like our legislation in Tallahassee is trying to pit the president against the governor. And, you know, people in Florida still love our governor, but we also love President Trump.”

DeSantis’ attacks Thursday also appeared to target the future ambitions of Simpson, a former state Senate president who was elected agriculture commissioner in 2022. Simpson, who supports the legislative plan, is widely considered to be a top GOP contender for governor but has not said whether he will run.

“Anybody that wants to run for governor, if you’re not willing to come out now and oppose this swampy piece of legislation, you are not going to get elected governor in this state. I can guarantee it. This is hot. This is something people will remember,” DeSantis said. “If you are running in the primary with this thing around your neck, you are dead on arrival.”

The rift over the immigration legislation has exposed long-simmering tensions between lawmakers and DeSantis, who dropped out of the GOP race for president early last year.

Perez said he was “completely blindsided” on Jan. 13 when DeSantis called a special session to address illegal immigration and other issues without consulting the speaker or Senate President Ben Albritton, R-Wauchula.

The House and Senate convened the DeSantis-called special session Monday morning but quickly ended it, began their own special session and passed a measure Tuesday night that the leaders say was crafted with input from Trump and White House officials.

“The reason we are in this position is there’s been a lack of communication between Gov. Ron DeSantis and the Legislature and it’s been like that for six years. That’s my opinion, but I’m never gonna run away from a conversation,” Perez said.

Albritton did not take part in the call, but he and Perez have presented a united front in the dispute with DeSantis. Shortly before the call, Albritton authored a text message to Republican supporters urging them to reach out to the governor’s office and ask him to sign the bill into law. The Legislature had not formally sent the bill to DeSantis as of early Thursday evening.

During an event Thursday morning with Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw, DeSantis railed against the bill, which would give Simpson oversight of nearly $500 million in grants to state and local law enforcement agencies aiding the federal government’s illegal immigration crackdown.

“Nobody elected the commissioner of agriculture to do the immigration stuff,” DeSantis said. “I got elected by a massive margin. One of the main issues I ran on was curtailing illegal immigration. So, to strip it from the governor, and I think part of this is petty, but to do the commissioner of agriculture is ridiculous. And let’s just be honest with ourselves, one of the magnets from illegal immigration is illegal low-wage farm labor.”

Perez said the governor’s characterization of the bill was untrue. During an interview with Miami influencer Linda Catalina, Perez noted that the bill received support from all but one Republican in the House. He also raised DeSantis’ unsuccessful run for president last year.

“And then on the other side, you have a gentleman who primaried the greatest president in the history of the United States, Donald J. Trump, just a year ago,” Perez said. “I mean, and then on top of that, he’s gonna say that this is weak and that this is catch-and-release. I mean, this is the same guy that was trying to make sure that Donald J Trump would never see the White House again. Think about that for a second.”