He won’t challenge Senator Marco Rubio in a Republican primary race for Senate in 2022, but Rep. Matt Gaetz says he would consider running for Florida’s “Commissioner of Agriculture,” a move that would set him up as a favorite to become governor of the state in 2026,
“In 2022 the only statewide position I would consider running for in the current political climate is Commissioner of Agriculture,” said Rep. Gaetz.
Leaving the U.S. Congress to run for a statewide office makes sense if you want to run for Governor, or even president down the road.
How many past presidents of the United States jumped from the House of Representatives to the presidency?
Very few, if any.
But if Gaetz truly wants to run for governor in 2026, or president in 2024, and is serious about running for AG Commissioner in 2022, he would have to face Senate President Wilton Simpson in what could be a bloody GOP primary race to replace current AG Commissioner Nikki Fried (D).
Commissioner Fried is expected to run for governor against Gov. Ron DeSantis (R).
Sen. Simpson, an egg farmer from Trilby, could pose a significant challenge to Gaetz in a primary, regardless of the congressman’s considerable statewide name ID with both Independent and Republican voters.
Oh, and like Gaetz, Simpson has money to mount the challenge.
Just last month, Gaetz shot what appears to be the first salvo in the potential GOP primary race, when he questioned who the senate president was when POLITICO’s Gary Fineout tweeted “Paging @WiltonSimpson” after Gaetz said he would consider the AG Commissioner job.
Paging who? (Asking for 98% of Floridians)
— Matt Gaetz (@mattgaetz) January 19, 2021
It’s safe to say that Gaetz would have the advantage over Simpson because of his almost-daily appearances on Fox News and his stature within the Trump Republican electorate.
How soon could we see either Gaetz or Simpson announced their potential candidacies for AG Commissioner?
It depends.
Gaetz could wait a little longer to announce considering the fact that just about every Republican in the state knows who he is thanks to Fox News, but Simpson would probably have to get in sometime over summer to be able to counter Gaetz’s popularity, were he decide to make the run for statewide office.
But even if Simpson gets in early and begins to gain traction among GOP voters, the minute Gaetz gets in the race, all that effort to garner support would probably be thrown out the window due to the fact that Gaetz is the Trumpiest of all Trump Republican elected officials.
Simpson is supportive of Trump, but that support does not compare to the level of loyalty that Gaetz, who is now engaged to be married to boot, has for the former president.
A Gaetz announcement would most-likely be coupled with a Trump endorsement.
If Trump comes out to endorse Gaetz, which will happen, Simpson’s eggs are fried.
The Florida Republican electorate is overwhelmingly composed of Trump Republicans, and like we said, considering that Gaetz’s loyalty to Trump is beyond reproach, and because he is a staunch defender of the 2nd Amendment this race is Gaetz’s to lose.
The Commissioner of Agriculture is also responsible for distributing concealed carry permits.
With the Biden Administration threatening gun rights, expect Gaetz, who we have dubbed “ the Yosemite Sam of Florida” due to his love of guns, to champion the cause against Biden’s probably and not-so-distant gun grab attempt.
