October 15, 2025 • 8 mins
Florida Politics publisher Peter Schorsch reacts to our interview with Paul Renner and discusses whether Lt. Gov. Jay Collins will join the 2026 governor’s race amid GOP clashes.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Bring in the publisher of Florida Politics, Peter Shorsch, is
back with us. You can find all of his work
and all of his team's reporting, and sign up for
the Sunburn newsletter so you get the inside scoop first
thing every morning in your inbox. Just go to Florida
politics dot com and Peter. Yesterday, we had former House
Speaker Paul Renner in studio. Of course, he's running for
the Republican nomination for governor, and it was interesting sitting
(00:24):
down and talking with him. His angle seems to be,
if you like the free state of Florida and what
Governor DeSantis has done in recent years, then elect me,
because I was like his right hand man in getting
all of that done, and I think that message could
(00:45):
be effective. But one of the problems he has is
that DeSantis won't endorse him. That's a lot to impact here,
because he's right, he's right, and he's wrong and he's wrong.
So he definitely was as a great assive as a
House speaker has been implementing a governor's agenda in my memory,
(01:07):
and in fact, I would say the current House Speaker,
Daniel Perez's speakership is basically a reaction to Renner's speakership.
I mean, where Perez says he is reasserting the independence
of the legislature, that means that somebody gave away some
of that independence. But a lot of these things, I
(01:31):
feel like Paul Renner is a lot like our friend
Jeff brandis. Where it turns out he's usually right about
some of the stuff, and he is ahead of the
time on some of the stuff. And things that you know,
we take as like free State of Florida, they end
up getting picked up in you know, the People's Republic
of California. Uh. And this can be like age verification
(01:54):
on social media, this can be the battle over keeping
you know, pornography websites out of the off the phones
of kids. You go to a major piece of legislation
like universal school choice. We're seeing that embraced throughout the
country and not just in conservative states. And so yes,
(02:14):
he implemented he implemented this all, you know, almost all
of the center of DeSantis's agenda. But I feel like
he doesn't get enough credit for you know, putting out
the legislation, watching it go through the court system, sometimes
seeing it get knocked down, but then eventually at the
end of the day, get proven. Right now, I will
say you're right. DeSantis did not endorse him. In fact,
(02:38):
he really kind of snubbed him on that first date.
But a lot of it has to do with the
behind the scenes playing out of the US presidency selection process.
Renner wanted that job, and he he went after Maury
has saying the chair or the most powerful member of
that board's choice. I think that that got him crosswired
(03:02):
with the governor because the governor is so close with Hosseini,
the big time developer on the East Coast and one
of the biggest players in state politics. So there's a
little bit of there's a little bit of spite. This
is almost a spike candidacy by Paul Renner at this
point because he didn't get that UF presidency. We're joined
(03:23):
by the publisher of Florida Politics, Peter Shorsh. The other
big problem that he has, in addition to not getting
the governor's endorsement, is that he's running up against Congressman
Byron Donalds, who has Trump's endorsement. And I think we're
both an agreement. Donalds is a formidable candidate, pretty impressive politician,
and as you're reporting in your Sunburn newsletter, which everyone
(03:47):
can sign up for at Florida Politics dot com. This morning,
the endorsements for Donalds continue to roll in in big numbers. Well,
you know that's exactly right. You know, Paul Renner wants
to find a lane here, and if it's not going
to be the Desantus lane, it's not going to be
the Trump lane. Well what lane is it going to be? Well,
I can tell you right now. If you read Sunburn today,
(04:09):
you'll see that fifty to state lawmakers Republicans, state lawmakers,
many of whom, if not most of whom served with
Paul Renner, have endorsed by Ronald So that's fifty out
of I think about seventy something. So almost all of
those lawmakers have other than some of the freshmen have
(04:29):
served with Renner. They think he's a good guy, this
is somebody that they like, but they are signing on
with Donald's and so I feel like, you know, I'll
give I'll give Renner some credit. I think he turned
heads a week ago when he reported that he raised
over three million dollars in the last thirty days for
his campaign. But running up against that Trump Donald's juggernaut.
(04:54):
I just don't know where he gets oxygen from. I
think he's got enough money to keep the lights on
through qualifying and so forth. But I have a feeling
we're going to continue to see him as the polls
come out where he will pull in single digits, And
I will say, I feel kind of bad to that
because I bet you you heard in your interview with him,
(05:15):
Paul Runner is a pretty decent guy. I mean, this
is not like a boogeyman. This is a guy that
cares about public service, is a true conservative, you know,
has done all the right things to serve the country,
et cetera. So he is somebody that if we were
just picking people, yeah, I think he'd be a really
good governor, But I that's not how the system works,
(05:35):
and so I think he's running up against a buzzsaw.
Where did things stand with Lieutenant Governor Jay Collins. We
had talked a couple of weeks ago, thought maybe he
might get in at the beginning of October. Still hasn't
happened yet. I think there's increasing pressure on him, especially
after Trump endorsed Meyer. I think there's increasing pressure on
(05:56):
DeSantis et cetera, where hey can a big deal be
made here where DeSantis just you know, folds in with
Trump and endorses Donald's and maybe Collins just doesn't get
out of the gate. Now, if you read his social media,
Collins is social media. It's he He keeps talking about
(06:17):
how he's you know, consulting with his family. But because
anybody who knows Florida politics, his wife who ran for
school board and is on the Board of Education as
one of the most outspoken people in Florida politics, there's
no hesitancy by his family about him, about them wanting
him to run. Where there's hesitancy is amongst the donors
(06:39):
and activists. And I just feel like I did a
speech a week ago and I said, I describe each
candidate as a different kind of soufle I feel like,
you know, Jay Collins, he's a flay. He's going to
get ot of the oven and collapse. I think if
he gets in now almost towards the end of the month,
he's got to go through the holidays, et cetera, into
the beginning of session. I don't think there's gonna you know,
(07:02):
all that donation money goes to lawmakers right now. I
see a scenario where he raises only a couple of
million dollars at best, and then he's gonna be looking
around in January saying how do I keep the lights
on of this gubernatorial campaign? And so I don't think
he's in a good position. Again, we've talked about it.
We expected him to have announced in October. With Ron
(07:25):
DeSantis's announcement, none of the you know here, we are
into the third week in October and neither of those
things are happying right now. The publisher of Florida Politics,
Peter Shore, she can find all of his work, all
of his team's reporting, and those scoops like the one
we talked about earlier, fifty two state House members endorsing
Byron Donalds for governor. It's all in the Sunburn news letter.
(07:47):
Check it all out at Florida Politics dot com. Peter,
I always appreciate it. Timon Inside, thanks so much. Okay,
thanks for having me on Ryan the Ryan Gorman Show
on news radio WFLA. Follow us on Facebook and Instagram
at Ryan Gorman Show, and find us online at ryangormanshow
dot com.
Bring in the publisher of Florida Politics, Peter Shorsch, is
back with us. You can find all of his work
and all of his team's reporting, and sign up for
the Sunburn newsletter so you get the inside scoop first
thing every morning in your inbox. Just go to Florida
politics dot com and Peter. Yesterday, we had former House
Speaker Paul Renner in studio. Of course, he's running for
the Republican nomination for governor, and it was interesting sitting
(00:24):
down and talking with him. His angle seems to be,
if you like the free state of Florida and what
Governor DeSantis has done in recent years, then elect me,
because I was like his right hand man in getting
all of that done, and I think that message could
(00:45):
be effective. But one of the problems he has is
that DeSantis won't endorse him. That's a lot to impact here,
because he's right, he's right, and he's wrong and he's wrong.
So he definitely was as a great assive as a
House speaker has been implementing a governor's agenda in my memory,
(01:07):
and in fact, I would say the current House Speaker,
Daniel Perez's speakership is basically a reaction to Renner's speakership.
I mean, where Perez says he is reasserting the independence
of the legislature, that means that somebody gave away some
of that independence. But a lot of these things, I
(01:31):
feel like Paul Renner is a lot like our friend
Jeff brandis. Where it turns out he's usually right about
some of the stuff, and he is ahead of the
time on some of the stuff. And things that you know,
we take as like free State of Florida, they end
up getting picked up in you know, the People's Republic
of California. Uh. And this can be like age verification
(01:54):
on social media, this can be the battle over keeping
you know, pornography websites out of the off the phones
of kids. You go to a major piece of legislation
like universal school choice. We're seeing that embraced throughout the
country and not just in conservative states. And so yes,
(02:14):
he implemented he implemented this all, you know, almost all
of the center of DeSantis's agenda. But I feel like
he doesn't get enough credit for you know, putting out
the legislation, watching it go through the court system, sometimes
seeing it get knocked down, but then eventually at the
end of the day, get proven. Right now, I will
say you're right. DeSantis did not endorse him. In fact,
(02:38):
he really kind of snubbed him on that first date.
But a lot of it has to do with the
behind the scenes playing out of the US presidency selection process.
Renner wanted that job, and he he went after Maury
has saying the chair or the most powerful member of
that board's choice. I think that that got him crosswired
(03:02):
with the governor because the governor is so close with Hosseini,
the big time developer on the East Coast and one
of the biggest players in state politics. So there's a
little bit of there's a little bit of spite. This
is almost a spike candidacy by Paul Renner at this
point because he didn't get that UF presidency. We're joined
(03:23):
by the publisher of Florida Politics, Peter Shorsh. The other
big problem that he has, in addition to not getting
the governor's endorsement, is that he's running up against Congressman
Byron Donalds, who has Trump's endorsement. And I think we're
both an agreement. Donalds is a formidable candidate, pretty impressive politician,
and as you're reporting in your Sunburn newsletter, which everyone
(03:47):
can sign up for at Florida Politics dot com. This morning,
the endorsements for Donalds continue to roll in in big numbers. Well,
you know that's exactly right. You know, Paul Renner wants
to find a lane here, and if it's not going
to be the Desantus lane, it's not going to be
the Trump lane. Well what lane is it going to be? Well,
I can tell you right now. If you read Sunburn today,
(04:09):
you'll see that fifty to state lawmakers Republicans, state lawmakers,
many of whom, if not most of whom served with
Paul Renner, have endorsed by Ronald So that's fifty out
of I think about seventy something. So almost all of
those lawmakers have other than some of the freshmen have
(04:29):
served with Renner. They think he's a good guy, this
is somebody that they like, but they are signing on
with Donald's and so I feel like, you know, I'll
give I'll give Renner some credit. I think he turned
heads a week ago when he reported that he raised
over three million dollars in the last thirty days for
his campaign. But running up against that Trump Donald's juggernaut.
(04:54):
I just don't know where he gets oxygen from. I
think he's got enough money to keep the lights on
through qualifying and so forth. But I have a feeling
we're going to continue to see him as the polls
come out where he will pull in single digits, And
I will say, I feel kind of bad to that
because I bet you you heard in your interview with him,
(05:15):
Paul Runner is a pretty decent guy. I mean, this
is not like a boogeyman. This is a guy that
cares about public service, is a true conservative, you know,
has done all the right things to serve the country,
et cetera. So he is somebody that if we were
just picking people, yeah, I think he'd be a really
good governor, But I that's not how the system works,
(05:35):
and so I think he's running up against a buzzsaw.
Where did things stand with Lieutenant Governor Jay Collins. We
had talked a couple of weeks ago, thought maybe he
might get in at the beginning of October. Still hasn't
happened yet. I think there's increasing pressure on him, especially
after Trump endorsed Meyer. I think there's increasing pressure on
(05:56):
DeSantis et cetera, where hey can a big deal be
made here where DeSantis just you know, folds in with
Trump and endorses Donald's and maybe Collins just doesn't get
out of the gate. Now, if you read his social media,
Collins is social media. It's he He keeps talking about
(06:17):
how he's you know, consulting with his family. But because
anybody who knows Florida politics, his wife who ran for
school board and is on the Board of Education as
one of the most outspoken people in Florida politics, there's
no hesitancy by his family about him, about them wanting
him to run. Where there's hesitancy is amongst the donors
(06:39):
and activists. And I just feel like I did a
speech a week ago and I said, I describe each
candidate as a different kind of soufle I feel like,
you know, Jay Collins, he's a flay. He's going to
get ot of the oven and collapse. I think if
he gets in now almost towards the end of the month,
he's got to go through the holidays, et cetera, into
the beginning of session. I don't think there's gonna you know,
(07:02):
all that donation money goes to lawmakers right now. I
see a scenario where he raises only a couple of
million dollars at best, and then he's gonna be looking
around in January saying how do I keep the lights
on of this gubernatorial campaign? And so I don't think
he's in a good position. Again, we've talked about it.
We expected him to have announced in October. With Ron
(07:25):
DeSantis's announcement, none of the you know here, we are
into the third week in October and neither of those
things are happying right now. The publisher of Florida Politics,
Peter Shore, she can find all of his work, all
of his team's reporting, and those scoops like the one
we talked about earlier, fifty two state House members endorsing
Byron Donalds for governor. It's all in the Sunburn news letter.
(07:47):
Check it all out at Florida Politics dot com. Peter,
I always appreciate it. Timon Inside, thanks so much. Okay,
thanks for having me on Ryan the Ryan Gorman Show
on news radio WFLA. Follow us on Facebook and Instagram
at Ryan Gorman Show, and find us online at ryangormanshow
dot com.
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