The MAGA movement has its sights set on expanding into governors’ mansions around the country.
A handful of prominent allies of President Trump are pursuing gubernatorial bids, viewing it as a way to expand the MAGA agenda beyond Washington and set themselves up for potential future bids for higher office.
That means looking beyond 2028, when Vice President Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio are viewed as the heavy favorites to lead the GOP presidential ticket.
That’s left some on the up-and-coming GOP bench going local.
Rep. Byron Donalds (Fla.) is running for governor in Florida, Sen. Marsha Blackburn (Tenn.) is running in Tennessee, Vivek Ramaswamy is campaigning in Ohio, Rep. Andy Biggs (Ariz.) is seeking the GOP nomination in Arizona and Rep. Nancy Mace (S.C.) is part of a crowded primary field in South Carolina.
“I think it’s like the next stage of the movement,” one GOP operative close to the White House told The Hill. “A lot of people who came up in the movement are looking to build off of that and understand it’s not staying in Congress another 20 years, it’s running a state.”
Republican sources said there are multiple factors at play in the decision for so many Trump allies to run for governor, particularly for those currently in Congress.
Sources pointed to the gridlock that has gripped Washington and the feeling that it is easier to raise one’s profile as a governor as opposed to as a congressional lawmaker. They noted Republicans may find themselves in the minority after next year’s midterms, pending the results of ongoing redistricting battles.
And sources noted those with aspirations to run for the White House or serve in a Cabinet position are likely better off gaining experience running a state and racking up policy wins in the meantime.
That is especially true given Vance and Rubio appear poised to dominate the conversation about who will serve as the GOP nominee in 2028, forcing other prospective candidates to wait until 2032 or later for their shot at the nomination.
“Not necessarily for 2028, what it does say is Byron, Vivek are both young guys,” the GOP operative close to the White House said. “They can go run two of the biggest states in the country for eight years and be national players for 20 years after that. I think it’s smart of some of these younger guys.”
Trump already has some GOP allies serving as governors around the country.
Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders served as a former spokesperson in Trump’s first term. South Carolina Gov. Harry McMaster was an early Trump supporter. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis have been at the forefront of implementing Trump’s immigration agenda in their states.
Other than Sanders, DeSantis and a few others, a limited number of GOP governors came to prominence alongside Trump or have been part of his political movement from the start. That could change, depending on the outcome of looming gubernatorial elections in the next 16 months.
Donalds served in the Florida House of Representatives during Trump’s first term, and he was elected to Congress in 2020 when Trump was on the presidential ballot. He was one of Trump’s most prominent surrogates during his criminal trial and on the campaign trail in 2024.
Blackburn was first elected to the Senate in 2018, tying herself closely to Trump and campaigning alongside him to defeat former Gov. Phil Bredesen (D).
During his 2024 presidential bid, Ramaswamy frequently praised Trump and leaned into the same populist, outsider appeals Trump used to great success during his first campaign. Ramaswamy was later tapped as a co-leader of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) alongside Elon Musk, though Ramaswamy left the effort once Trump took office.
Biggs was first elected to the House in 2016, the same year Trump first appeared on the ballot. He has echoed Trump’s rhetoric on immigration and other issues, including claims that the 2020 election was fraudulent.
Mace has had a complicated relationship with Trump and the MAGA movement. She worked on Trump’s 2016 campaign, but Trump endorsed a primary challenger against Mace in 2022 after she was critical of Trump’s role in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol. She teased her gubernatorial campaign with a video highlighting Trump’s past praise for her.
Trump has already endorsed Donalds in Florida and Ramaswamy in Ohio. He jointly endorsed Biggs and Karrin Taylor Robson in Arizona. He has yet to weigh in on the gubernatorial races in Tennessee or South Carolina.
Those are two races where a backing by Trump could tip the scales.
“Trump is more popular right now among the Republican base than anybody this century. If you know you can get that endorsement, now is the time to cash in,” one White House ally told The Hill.
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