Governor Ron DeSantis has endorsed Wilton Simpson's reelection bid for Florida Agriculture Commissioner. DeSantis said Simpson has earned a second term since taking office in 2023, crediting him with turning around an agency that had struggled under previous leadership. The governor highlighted Simpson's response to natural disasters, including this year's wildfires, as evidence of his effectiveness in the role. President Donald Trump also backs Simpson's candidacy for a second term.
Simpson, an egg farmer from Trilby who previously served as state Senate President, was first elected agriculture commissioner in 2022. He has pursued legislative reform measures during his tenure, most notably the Florida Farm Bill passed during this legislative session. Simpson promoted the bill as protecting Floridians from dangerous and disruptive technologies, organized fraud, and government overreach. The legislation accomplished multiple goals, including preventing local governments from banning gasoline-powered equipment, establishing guardrails on development, expanding agritourism opportunities, creating the Florida Native Seed Research and Marketing Program, and making permanent the Farmers Feeding Florida Program.
Simpson maintains a substantial financial advantage over his opponents. His main political committee, Friends of Wilton Simpson, has more than 10 million dollars in the bank and raised 1.375 million dollars during the first three months of 2024. Simpson also chairs multiple other committees with significant resources, including the Florida Green PAC with nearly 11 million dollars on hand, the Future Florida political committee with nearly 12 million dollars, and the Home Grown PAC with more than 300,000 dollars. The other Republican candidates have far less financial backing. Matt the Welder of Plant City reported less than 40,000 dollars on hand, while Richard Olle of Valrico had not reported any fundraising as of the March reporting deadline.
Democrats Donald Prichard and Chase Anderson Romagnano have also opened campaign accounts, along with no-party candidate Kyle Gibson. Neither Democrat had raised funds as of the first quarter filing deadline, with Gibson reporting approximately 1,000 dollars on hand. DeSantis joins a growing list of endorsers backing Simpson's reelection. As of Wednesday morning, none of the candidates had officially qualified for the race, though filing deadlines were approaching.