Ron DeSantis will be remembered as the most effective governor of the 21st century.
Unfortunately, he is terming out of office in January 2027.
Vying to fill the void, a crowded GOP primary is raging on, but there is only one candidate that could be an equivalent, not a downgrade, from DeSantis: James Fishback.
What Has Been Done
Before reviewing what could be, it is appropriate to remember what has been.
Governor DeSantis served as an example of what true executive governance should be: smart, cunning, independent, and principled.
Under his tenure, Florida rejected authoritarian and baseless COVID-19 lockdowns and mandates; paid down over $7.3 billion in debt accrued since statehood; rejected the globalist Great Reset agenda through banning central bank digital currencies; and dealt a blistering blow to “wokeism,” to just scratch the surface of major wins.
This legacy was largely achieved purely by God’s grace and DeSantis’ own will, as he wrestled with the state legislature and establishment forces within his own party.
In short, he forced the hand of state government to do the right thing by utilizing his platform and public mandate. Not by waiting and taking orders from top GOP brass.
Exceptional leadership of this magnitude deserves to be honored and continued, not disgraced and reversed.
Who Can Continue the Righteous Work?
James Fishback, a political outsider and venture capitalist located in the rural town of Madison, is the only viable choice to continue DeSantis’ legacy and sufficiently meet the issues of our times.
Firstly, Fishback is a Christian and constitutionalist. He thinks and acts on principle, not on party lines. Unlike his opponents, Fishback is not beholden to Tallahassee Insiders.
Like President Donald Trump was in 2015, Fishback is an inexperienced outsider and political wrecking ball.
The Policies
Unlike his opponents, Fishback’s agenda is not a collection of sound bites; it is a substantial set of principled plans.
Here are eight policies Fishback is running on which set him apart:
- Ban abortion, which is currently allowed for up to six weeks and, under non-consensual conception, for up to fifteen weeks. Abortions can take place at any of the seventeen Planned Parenthood locations across the state. Fishback would work to end all of it.
- Stop AI data centers that raise utilities costs and energize the impending Orwellian state, while restricting Flock surveillance cameras that monitor citizens without a warrant.
- Make Florida affordable by supporting the full eradication of property taxes. In 2019, property tax revenue was $32 billion, inflating to $60 billion in 2026. The cost is too high, and more importantly, it is a Marxist scheme so that citizens never truly own their home and pay indefinite rent to the government. He’ll push back on Blackstone and foreign entities from swallowing up single-family homes, too.
- Place a 50% “Sin Tax” on pornography, discouraging degeneracy and promoting monogamy.
- End the H-1B visa foreign labor scam and aid federal law enforcement in carrying out mass deportations.
- Push back on foreign influence in elections, legislation, and politics at large.
- Utilize the 9th and 10th Amendments of the U.S. Constitution to nullify unconstitutional laws, standing as a protector between an ever-growing federal government and Floridians.
- Restore Old Florida rather than pursue a New Florida wrought with overdevelopment and foreign labor.
Fishback’s platform is ambitious and has raised the genuine question: “How can we trust him to actually deliver?”
In an unconventional move, Fishback has signed a binding contract, under penalty of perjury, that if he fails to deliver on his campaign promises, he will be barred from seeking reelection. While this is not a watertight guarantee of authenticity, it blows his competition out of the water.
The Opponents
Fishback is competing against Lieutenant Governor Jay Collins, former House Speaker Paul Renner, and Congressman Byron Donalds, who is endorsed by President Trump, for the GOP nomination.
While one could analyze each candidate’s policies, the simplest argument to make is viability.
It would not be an overstatement to say that President Trump has put the fix in to push Donalds over the finish line before the race even began. In fact, the president has endorsed eighteen Republicans in gubernatorial primaries this year and has so far only lost one race to MAHA outsider Zach Lahn in Iowa.
Simply put, all hands must be on deck, uniting around one candidate, to defeat Donalds.
If elected, Donalds would keep abortion laws the same; he would construct endless AI data centers staffed and built by foreign laborers stealing American jobs, all while taking orders from establishment insiders rather than from the citizenry.
Repeatedly, he has chosen not to debate candidates in a competitive primary, and his entire platform rests solely on the endorsement of President Trump, not on principles, vision, or substance.
Lieutenant Governor Collins, despite telling this writer that abortion is not an issue he is “hyperfocused on,” and former Speaker Paul Renner are good men.
But they simply do not have the name recognition, poll numbers, or grassroots enthusiasm to viably come close to Donalds.
Fishback, however, is consistently polling in second place and draws hundreds of excited voters, significantly the youth, to rallies across all sixty-seven counties, often only giving 24-hour notice before an event.
He has momentum.
Take a Chance
Florida is our home, and it belongs to Floridians.
We, the people, not the donor class or uniparty elites in Washington D.C., decide the direction of the Sunshine State.
It’s true that James Fishback is a political outsider with no experience.
It’s also true that he faces a massive onslaught of smear campaigns, character assassination attempts, and censorship from GOP party elites.
But, on the issues, on principle, James Fishback is the best option who has a viable chance of coming close to defeating Donalds and winning the general election against Democrat David Jolly.
I encourage all patriots to consider supporting Fishback on election day, August 18, 2026.
The views and opinions of the author do not necessarily reflect those of The Liberty Sentinel.