For Florida’s most ambitious Republicans, Donald Trump’s hush-money trial is the place to be.

Over the past week, a parade of GOP lawmakers from the former president’s adopted home state have made the pilgrimage to Manhattan, where Trump is standing trial on charges that he falsified business records in order to cover up a hush money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels in the lead up to the 2016 presidential election. Trump has been hit with a gag order in that trial that bars him from commenting on witnesses, prosecutors, court staff or the family of the judge overseeing the case.

Three Floridians – U.S. Reps. Matt Gaetz, Michael Waltz and Anna Paulina Luna – were in the courtroom on Thursday, while U.S. Reps. Byron Donalds and Cory Mills showed up on Tuesday. And last week, U.S. Sen. Rick Scott, a longtime Trump ally and former Florida governor, made the trek to New York, where he denounced the former president’s trial as “political persecution.”

The appearances are ostensibly intended to show support for Trump,

But below the surface, the steady stream of courtroom visits highlights what some Republicans see as the emerging shadow campaign for Florida governor. Though the election is still more than two years away, Donalds, Gaetz and Waltz are all seen as potential – if not likely – candidates to succeed Gov. Ron DeSantis, who is term-limited and won’t be able to run again.

“There is a feeling among the Republican base that, if you’re not pushing back against the lawfare, then you’re not a Republican,” said Ford O’Connell, a Republican strategist and former congressional candidate in Florida. “At the same time, there are obviously people that are aiming for higher office or a position in the Trump administration or something bigger.”

Already, several prominent Florida Republicans have either indicated that they’re interested in running for the governor’s mansion or have been discussed as potential contenders. The list ranges from members of Congress like Gaetz, Donalds and Waltz to DeSantis loyalists, including Lt. Gov. Jeanette Nuñez, state Attorney General Ashley Moody and even First Lady Casey DeSantis.

In a news conference this week, the governor insisted that his wife had “zero” interest in running to succeed him in 2026, though one poll from Florida Atlantic University released last month found Casey DeSantis leading Gaetz in a hypothetical, head-to-head primary matchup, 38% to 16%.

The jockeying isn’t just on the Republican side. Democratic U.S. Rep. Jared Moskowitz has said that he’s “not ruling” out a bid for governor in 2026. State House Minority Leader Fentrice Driskell and state Rep. Shevrin Jones, who was elected last month to lead the Miami-Dade Democratic Party, have also said they’re considering running for the job.

There’s little doubt among Republicans that Trump’s endorsement in the race will carry outsize weight, whether he wins the presidency in November or not. The former president frequently boasted about how his endorsement of DeSantis helped push the governor to a narrow victory in 2018. And Trump has also indicated he has no qualms about weighing in early on 2026; in January, he endorsed state Sen. Joe Gruters to replace Florida Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis, who still has more than two years left in office.

Alex Conant, a Republican consultant and former campaign adviser to U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, said that any Florida Republican aspiring to run for higher office would be wise to show up at Trump’s hush-money trial.

“I think Trump rewards loyalty, and showing up at his criminal trial is a strong act of loyalty,” Conant said. “If you ever want to ask Trump for something in the future, going to his trial now is a good down payment. Donald Trump’s endorsement is often decisive in Republican primaries. If you want to win his endorsement a year from now, standing at his side today can only help.”

There’s also a clear benefit to Trump by having his political allies attend his trial. His court-mandated gag order has already cost him $10,000 in fines and caused the judge in the case to threaten him with jail time. Politicians like Gaetz or Donalds, however, aren’t barred from commenting on the case’s witnesses, jurors or anyone else, for that matter – something Gaetz himself pointed out on Thursday.

“We are here of our own volition, because there are things we can say that President Trump is unjustly not allowed to say,” Gaetz said at a press conference outside the courthouse in Lower Manhattan, later adding that Trump was on trial for a “made-up crime.”

There’s also intense speculation over whom Trump will tap as his running mate ahead of the November presidential election. Donalds is seen by many Republicans as a potential choice for the job, as is U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio. Asked on Thursday during a Fox News interview whether he has any interest in joining a hypothetical Trump administration, Waltz demurred, saying he was focused first and foremost on getting Trump elected.

“There’s a lot of people that want [the running mate position]. And President Trump being President Trump — it might be a little bit like ‘Apprentice,’ ” Waltz said, referring to the reality TV show that Trump hosted for more than a decade.

A spokesperson for Trump’s campaign did not respond to the Miami Herald’s request for comment.

Jamie Miller, a GOP consultant, said that the maneuvering for the 2026 gubernatorial race is the most apparent right now. It’s not just about who’s showing up to Trump’s trial, he said. “The real question is: how many shadow campaigns are going on?”

“At this point, everybody has a toe in the water, at least,” Miller, a former executive director of the Florida Republican Party, said. “And certainly people are jockeying to see if they should jump in the deep end of the pool.”