'Civil war' rages as DeSantis cronies gather to take on Florida GOP House leaders

For the past month, something of a civil war has raged between Florida Republicans in Tallahassee.

Gov. Ron DeSantis has accused Florida GOP House leadership of being “at war with the voters who provided the supermajority in the first place.”

He’s criticized them for ignoring his request for a property tax cut and not doing enough on condominium legislation.

And he’s accused them of working with the “liberal media” in the now-concluded investigation into Hope Florida, the welfare assistance program led by First Lady Casey DeSantis.

As a show of support, supporters of DeSantis called for a “Rally in Tally” Friday afternoon at the Capitol in support of his “Freedom Agenda.”

There was no such rally, but there was a press conference on the Plaza Level of the Capitol featuring former Panhandle House Republican Dr. Joel Rudman and Tracy Caruso, wife of Palm Beach County GOP Rep. Mike Caruso, along with some DeSantis supporters.

‘There was a mandate when we voted DeSantis in … and there isn’t a person here who ran on the idea of dismantling any of DeSantis’ policies,” said Tracy Caruso, who has already filed to run in the House District 87 seat in 2026 now held by her husband.

“My message to everyone here is please come out and talk to your representatives,” she added. “Tell them that you stand with our great Gov. Ron DeSantis.”

Text messages sent this week to voters from Restore Our Nation (RON) PAC, a DeSantis-affiliated political committee, bore a similar message: “Florida House leaders are working with Democrats to stop our agenda and sabotage Florida’s success. … Call your State Rep … and tell them to stand with the people and me to keep Florida free!”

Text messages like this were sent to Floridians this week from Restore Our Nation (RON) PAC.

Rudman stepped down from his seat representing parts of Okaloosa and Santa Rosa counties late last year to run for the congressional seat vacated by Matt Gaetz, but lost in the GOP primary to former CFO Jimmy Patronis.

He said on Friday that he was “appalled at what was being taught” at a learning session for House members last November.

“We weren’t being taught open carry. We weren’t being taught red flag laws. We weren’t being taught immigration,” he said. “Instead, the topics of discussion that afternoon from the top down were, ‘We are not listening to Ron DeSantis anymore.'”

Rudman has made these charges repeatedly in recent weeks, including during a press conference hosted by DeSantis last week.

“Looking back, once the session started, I had no idea what we were facing even here today,” Rudman said.

“I had no idea that we would see what I would call treachery. Basically, we have the most popular conservative governor in America. Other people in other states stop me and they tell me, ‘I wish I was from Florida. What can we do to get your conservative leadership in Georgia? In South Carolina? In Mississippi? So, to have this open revolt was even more that I couldn’t dare imagine.”

“We cannot have representatives who go against our governor when he’s the one who makes the decision on these things,” added Larry Downs from Pensacola. “I don’t want the fighting amongst our governor and our legislators. I don’t like that. I want them to lead.”

Perez responds

Perez fired back in a statement sent to Fox News on Friday.

“While the Florida House remains the most conservative body in the Legislature — passing a budget billions lower than the Governor’s, approving larger tax cuts than the Governor, and pushing bold conservative policies like repealing gun laws and passing E-Verify — the Governor seems uninterested in a conservative Legislature,” he said.

“He wants a compliant one. After seven years in office, it’s clear he doesn’t want people asking hard questions, especially after neglecting his duties while running for president.”

Rep. Caruso was also slated to speak at the event, but with the House in session, he was unable to attend.