Florida Republican Gubernatorial candidate Paul Renner stopped in Crawfordville as part of his campaign tour Monday.
Among Renner’s talking points: property taxes, AI data centers, and a swipe at the GOP gubernatorial front-runner.
During the event at the Wakulla County Chamber of Commerce, Renner said he wants to focus on reducing property taxes for full-time Florida residents first. He also said AI data centers, like the ones popping up all over the country, could put Florida water at risk.
“We've got to make sure that we're not letting outside national interests that covet Florida take our beloved state. And so, I'm going to protect that. I'm going to put Florida First,” he said.
Renner is the most recent former Florida House Speaker. According to recent polling, he’s far behind in the governor's race, averaging around 2 to 3 percent support.
He told reporters when asked about those polls that they aren’t everything.
“I'm not, as you know, a fan of early polls, because they've been wrong. The front runner never wins in Florida,” he said.
The current GOP frontrunner is Congressman Byron Donalds, who has Trump’s endorsement, a fundraising lead and is polling above 40%.
At the event, Renner said a vote for Donalds is a vote for David Jolly, the Democratic frontrunner. Renner accused Donalds of being self-promoting.
“A lot of baggage, missed votes, you name it. Just not a, not a great, stellar record. He's been all about himself against a guy who's going to come in as a moderate Democrat, who, to my knowledge, doesn't have any skeletons in his closet. And I think he's your next governor, if Byron Donalds is a nominee,” he said.
Whoever Florida’s next governor is will have a first two years of tough calls.
State economists have projected Florida is heading toward billions in budget cuts over the next two years if spending is not altered. Florida’s budget is projected to be in the red by over a billion dollars next year and 6 billion in two years if spending or revenues don’t change.
When asked about that outlook, Renner said he wouldn’t close that deficit by raising taxes or cutting teacher pay. Instead, he wants to cut what he called wasteful and fraudulent spending in the government.
“It's a very well-run state government. But can we squeeze any more out of that? You bet we can. Can we find some waste, fraud and abuse in the system, absolutely, which would more than offset any kind of budget shortfalls in the outlying years,” he said.
Those future projections have been a sticking point in current, drawn-out budget negotiations in Florida’s legislature. Lawmakers return to Tallahassee to continue their budget work next week.