TALLAHASSEE, Florida — State Sen. Jason Pizzo, who recently proclaimed the Florida Democratic Party “dead” before leaving the party, said Friday he will run for governor as an independent in 2026.
Pizzo has been hinting for months that he planned to mount a run to succeed Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, who cannot run again due to term limits.
The Miami state senator was elected as a Democrat and had risen to become the Senate Democratic leader, but he dramatically announced his departure in a speech last month on the Senate floor in which he castigated Democrats. Pizzo, who has often been seen as a centrist and has clashed at times with the progressive wing of the party, then switched his official registration to no-party affiliation.
The former Democratic Senate leader told CBS Miami on Friday, “Yes I am,” when he was asked if he was planning to run. He contended many “excited” people had reached out to him after he ended his affiliation with the Democratic Party, and he pointed out that independent voters make up a significant part of the state’s electorate.
“NPAs decide who win elections in this state, and there’s 3.7 million of them,” Pizzo said, referring to voters who are officially listed as having no-party affiliation.
When reached by POLITICO, Pizzo said he was prepared to highlight his differences with the candidates from the major parties.
“Everyone else already in the gubernatorial mix has severe and prohibitive baggage, or vast limitations, in leading this state,” Pizzo said in a text message. “I’m focused on remaining the ethical, informed, honest and rational public servant I’ve always been.”
Florida has not elected a governor who is not a Democrat or Republican candidate in more than a century, and Republicans have dominated the state since Jeb Bush won his second campaign for governor in 1998. DeSantis crushed former Gov. Charlie Crist in the 2022 midterms with a nearly 20-point win.
Rep. Byron Donalds, a Republican from Naples, is considered the frontrunner in the governor’s race after he was endorsed by President Donald Trump earlier this year.
First lady Casey DeSantis has been considering jumping into the race, but she has not taken any firm steps to do so. Gov. DeSantis in early April told Fox News to “stay tuned” and suggested an answer would come after the legislative session ended in early May. The session, however, is currently in overtime due to an ongoing budget stalemate between the House and Senate.
A DeSantis-Donalds run could create a deep rift in the state GOP, and some of it has already been playing out online as DeSantis supporters repeatedly lash out at Donalds.
Pizzo, meanwhile, made his party switch announcement the same day former Rep. David Jolly announced he was changing his voter registration from no-party affiliation to Democrat. Jolly has also started a political committee that he could use to help him run as a Democratic nominee for governor.
Mounting an independent candidacy without party volunteers and organization could be a steep climb for Pizzo. But the Miami attorney is also very wealthy and could afford to help pay for television ads and other campaign related costs with his own money. He told Democrats last year that he had “$25 million ready to go” for a 2026 run.
He said he planned to make his candidacy official in early September because one of his two sons is heading to college and the other is about to graduate boot camp before heading off to infantry school.
Some Democrats have asserted that a Pizzo candidacy with no party affiliation could just make it easier for Republicans to win again.
“If anyone (or entity) is worried about my candidacy hurting their side, then they’re like more worried about their own abilities,” Pizzo said in a text message.