It’s only about six months before Republican voters decide their nominee for Florida governor. That doesn’t give Paul Renner, who served as Florida House speaker from 2022 to 2024, much time to catch up to front-runner U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds, not to mention beating out Lt. Gov. Jay Collins and James Fishback. The Tampa Bay Times caught up with Renner in South Tampa on Friday over coffee at ...

Former Florida House Speaker Paul Renner said he's launching a bid for governor.

Douglas R. Clifford/Tampa Bay Times/TNS

It’s only about six months before Republican voters decide their nominee for Florida governor.

That doesn’t give Paul Renner, who served as Florida House speaker from 2022 to 2024, much time to catch up to front-runner U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds, not to mention beating out Lt. Gov. Jay Collins and James Fishback.

The Tampa Bay Times caught up with Renner in South Tampa on Friday over coffee at Dutch Bros. The following is an excerpt of the 30-minute conversation.

President Donald Trump endorsed Donalds. Gov. Ron DeSantis, whom you worked closely with when you were House speaker, hasn’t endorsed anyone. How is your campaign compensating for not getting endorsed by the two people who matter most to conservative voters in Florida?

Campaigns are long interviews with the voters, and the governor, much more recently, commented that my two years leading the Legislature and the House were the two most consequential of any state in America at any time. There’s always an ebb and flow of people’s perceptions about candidates over the course of the campaign, and what we feel at the grassroots level is a phenomenal response.

You worked closely with DeSantis. Were you surprised that he didn’t endorse you?

The governor and I have a good relationship. (When I announced I was running), that was right at the point that Lt. Gov. (Jay Collins) had been appointed. There was an expectation by some that he might be with the lieutenant governor. There’s not that expectation now. … My hope would be that we’ll earn his support at the end of the day. Honestly, if I were the governor, I would sit back and watch, and I think that’s right for the governor to do. But I think at the point we get closer, when people start paying attention, and it shapes up as a two-person race, I have every confidence he would refer me over Congressman Donalds.

What’s it like to have the dynamics of this race be flipped from your relationship with Donalds when you were both in the Florida House and you beat him in the race for House speaker?

I’m the only one in the race who’s beaten him once already.

Any insight on why Donalds got Trump’s endorsement and not you?

I support the president. I don’t have the relationship that Donalds has with him because I’m at the state level, not at the federal level. But look, if you love the Free State of Florida and what Gov. DeSantis has done, I was a key architect.

What do you think of James Fishback, who has created a social media campaign that is noisy and positioning him, not you, as the foil to Donalds?

(Fishback) starts with a massive social media following that is independent from politics, and he is rightly criticizing Byron Donalds as a do-nothing empty suit.

What do you think of Fishback’s campaign?

He’s spot on with young people, but so are we. So that part of the agenda, when it comes to making sure young people can afford a home, making sure young people have a job and I’m committed to, in writing, not having any (foreign) visas for state employees or state contracts so that those jobs go to Florida graduates. If we have people graduating from our No. 1-ranked university system and can’t find a job, that’s a problem. So I’m absolutely committed to the generation that’s coming out of high school and college and looking for work. The difference is I’m the guy that can actually get it done, and I have a record of getting it done and will do whatever is necessary to make sure that this upcoming generation has the same opportunities I had when I came out of college.

Fishback has said some inflammatory and racist things about Donalds. Do you denounce his attacks?

Some of the things he said I do not agree with at all. But I speak for myself, and I think at the end of the day, whether it’s people that he’s appealing to currently, or people that are in their retirement years, I will unite all sides of the party.

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