{"id":348891,"date":"2025-12-17T17:38:30","date_gmt":"2025-12-17T22:38:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.cltampa.com\/?p=348891"},"modified":"2025-12-17T17:38:34","modified_gmt":"2025-12-17T22:38:34","slug":"gop-gubernatorial-candidate-paul-renner-pleads-his-case-to-tampa-bay-trump-supporters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cltampa.com\/news\/gop-gubernatorial-candidate-paul-renner-pleads-his-case-to-tampa-bay-trump-supporters\/","title":{"rendered":"GOP gubernatorial candidate Paul Renner pleads his case to Tampa Bay Trump supporters"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"Paul
Former Florida House speaker Paul Renner. Credit:<\/span> Photo via State of Florida<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

CLEARWATER \u2014 GOP gubernatorial candidate Paul Renner is proud of his conservative record while serving in office and says Republican voters should compare it to Byron Donalds\u2019 over the past nine years, \u201capples to apples.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The former Florida House speaker is trailing Donalds significantly in early public opinion polls regarding the 2026 Republican gubernatorial primary, in part because President Donald Trump endorsed the U.S. representative from Naples in February.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Speaking at the Tampa Bay Trump Republican Club meeting at Mugs Sports Bar & Grill in Clearwater Tuesday night, Renner was asked directly by a member of the audience to provide evidence that voters should ignore Trump and support Renner in next August\u2019s GOP primary election.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou can compare my leadership experience to anyone in the race or thinking about getting into the race. Byron and I got in office at the same time,\u201d he said. \u201cHe ran against me for speaker back in 2016 when he was in the state House. What has he done in the nine or 10 years he\u2019s been in office? You can look at what I\u2019ve done in the nine or 10 years that I\u2019ve been in office. It\u2019s an apples-to-apples comparison, and you can ask \u2026 at the end of the day, who do you trust more to handle whatever comes our way?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Renner boasted earlier in the speech about his tenure as speaker between 2022 and 2024, particularly the robust package of bills passed during the 2023 legislative session on immigration, abortion, and unions, among other initiatives aggressively pushed by Gov. Ron DeSantis,<\/a> fresh off his 19-point re-election victory and in advance of his subsequent run for president.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe did all of this legislative reform and called it the most conservative and consequential two years we had in Florida history,\u201d Renner said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He added that his legislative record in Tallahassee should be compared to what Donalds has accomplished in his five years in Congress and went on to extoll his proposals as a candidate on affordability and property taxes \u2014 proposals he said aren\u2019t being offered by any other candidate in the GOP race for governor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Voting record<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

He also took aim at Donalds\u2019 voting record in Congress.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOur system is broken; people are too busy running for the next office or getting on TV and not solving the problems. And it\u2019s one thing to talk about repealing Obamacare, or doing something on illegal immigration, but if you haven\u2019t done it, how can you can come into this state, or if you haven\u2019t shown up to take votes in Congress, how can you interview for a position of senior pastor when you don\u2019t show up to church?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Renner\u2019s criticism of Donalds\u2019 voting record echoes some of the comments made by DeSantis in February, when the governor said<\/a> the congressman \u201cjust hasn\u2019t been part of any of the victories that we\u2019ve had here over the left over these last few years.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When it comes to missed votes in Congress from the Florida delegation, Donalds has ranked fourth worst among the state\u2019s 28 members, according to GovTrack.us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Donalds\u2019 first term<\/a> in Congress (2021-2023), he missed 3.2% of all votes, placing him 63rd among all members in the U.S. House. Former Democratic Rep. Stephanie Murphy was tops in Florida members of Congress in missed votes at 8.3%. Republicans Daniel Webster came second with 7.6% and Bill Posey third with 5.5% missed votes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During Donalds\u2019 second term<\/a> (2023-2025), he missed 7.2% of all votes, placing him 47th among all members in the U.S. House. The Florida members of Congress with the highest percentage of missed votes in that term were led by Republican Anna Paulina Luna at 16% (Part of her absences were due to having problems before and after a pregnancy<\/a> that led to her doctor prohibiting her from traveling), and Republicans Mike Waltz at 10.3% and Greg Steube at 10.2%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Speaking of Luna, Renner referenced the Pinellas County Republican U.S. Rep.\u2019s discharge position to force a vote on congressional stock trading ban.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhy is that so hard to do, and why don\u2019t we have enough Republicans \u2014 including my opponent \u2014 who have not signed on to stop making money while you\u2019re in office from inside information that only you are aware of, as a congressman?\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat is not okay, and so we\u2019re going to make sure we put that to rest. We don\u2019t have that, thankfully, in Tallahassee, but we cannot have people who care more about themselves coming in to lead our state. We need people that are putting other people first, put Florida first, and that\u2019s what I\u2019ll do when I\u2019m governor.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Donalds fires back<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The Donalds campaign sent the Phoenix a statement when asked to respond to Renner\u2019s comments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cByron Donalds is the only candidate who has voted with President Trump to provide record tax relief for families and seniors, shut down the border, deport criminal illegals, protect our national security, and Make America Great Again,\u201d said Ryan Smith, chief strategist for the campaign. \u201cByron Donalds will be Florida\u2019s next governor because he is the proven conservative fighter endorsed by President Trump. Anyone running against him is an anti-Trump RINO and will get crushed in the Republican primary.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Talking about his stance on crime, the former Broward County prosecutor touted 2023 legislation that expanded the state\u2019s death penalty to include suspects who rape children younger than 12 years old. That law will likely be challenged, as the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 2008 that sentencing a defendant to death for any crime other than homicide or crimes against the state is unconstitutional under the Eighth Amendment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Regarding the death penalty, Renner noted that some of the individuals who have been executed this year in the state of Florida had been on death row for nearly four decades, which he said was unacceptable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI am sick and tired of seeing the family members grow old and die and never see justice,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen I\u2019m governor, we\u2019re going to shorten that under Marsy\u2019s law. That should be no more \u2014 and I hope less that this \u2014 but no more than five years for capital felonies and two years for non-capital felony. Make your case. Make your arguments. Stop playing games, and once that happens, we\u2019re going to execute you as you should be. Don\u2019t touch our kids. Don\u2019t kill our men and women or you will be put to death in the state of Florida.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(According to Marsy\u2019s Law<\/a>, all state-level appeals and collateral attacks on any judgment must be complete within two years of the date of appeal in non-capital cases and within five years from the date of appeal in capital cases, unless a court enters an order with specific findings as to why the court was unable to comply with this provision and the circumstances causing the delay).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Speaking about illegal immigration, Renner said immigration \u201cshould be like adopting into a family.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although immigration was controversial when Italians and Irish immigrated to America, he said they were able to assimilate into the country  because \u201cthey were Christian. They shared our western values.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now, he asserted, there are \u201cIslamists who refuse to assimilate and have no intention of assimilating. And what they want is to get to point of dominance and force us to assimilate to them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He went on to applaud Gov. DeSantis for his executive order last week declaring the Muslim Brotherhood and the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) \u201cas the terrorist organizations that they are.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

CAIR-Florida filed a lawsuit<\/a> in federal court against DeSantis Monday for issuing that executive order, claiming that it is unconstitutional.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Renner worked closely with DeSantis during his tenure as House speaker to enact their shared agenda during the 2023 and 2024 legislative sessions, and he travelled to frigid Iowa<\/a> in January 2024 to campaign for the governor just ahead of the presidential caucus that year. Despite that support, DeSantis has been dismissive of his candidacy, saying in September, \u201cI\u2019m not supporting Paul Renner,\u201d adding that it was \u201cill-advised\u201d that he entered the race.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

DeSantis has yet to back any Republican in the contest to succeed him next year.<\/p>\n\n\n\nFlorida Phoenix<\/a> is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Florida Phoenix maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Michael Moline for questions: info@floridaphoenix.com<\/a>.\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

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The former Florida House speaker is trailing Donalds significantly in early public opinion polls regarding the 2026 Republican gubernatorial primary, in part because President Donald Trump endorsed the U.S. representative from Naples in February.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2220,"featured_media":342324,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"newspack_ads_suppress_ads":false,"newspack_popups_has_disabled_popups":false,"newspack_sponsor_sponsorship_scope":"","newspack_sponsor_native_byline_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_native_category_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_style":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_placement":"inherit","apple_news_api_created_at":"2025-12-17T22:38:39Z","apple_news_api_id":"1eca6470-633b-40d5-abd9-3ec4fd8af4e5","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2025-12-17T22:38:40Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAD\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/w==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/AHspkcGM7QNWr2T7E_Yr05Q","apple_news_cover_media_provider":"image","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_cover_video_id":0,"apple_news_cover_video_url":"","apple_news_cover_embedwebvideo_url":"","apple_news_is_hidden":"","apple_news_is_paid":"","apple_news_is_preview":"","apple_news_is_sponsored":"","apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":[],"apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"newspack_collection_is_cover_story":false,"newspack_collection_post_order":0,"_newspack_byline_active":false,"_newspack_byline":"","newspack_featured_image_position":"hidden","newspack_post_subtitle":"The former Florida House speaker is trailing Trump-endorsed Byron Donalds significantly in early public opinion polls.","newspack_article_summary_title":"Overview:","newspack_article_summary":"","newspack_hide_updated_date":false,"newspack_show_updated_date":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,55],"tags":[3302,41605,76234,135828],"newspack_collection_taxonomy":[135791],"newspack_collection_section":[],"newspack_spnsrs_tax":[],"coauthors":[112],"class_list":["post-348891","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-tampa-bay-news","tag-byron-donalds","tag-florida-governors-race-2026","tag-paul-renner","tag-tampa-bay-trump-republicans","entry"],"apple_news_notices":[],"yoast_head":"\nGOP gubernatorial candidate Paul Renner pleads his case to Tampa Bay Trump supporters - 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