Florida Republicans had their favorite in this legislative primary. Then Trump got involved.

TALLAHASSEE, Florida — Republicans who control the Florida state Senate are in an uncomfortable spot: On the wrong side of Donald Trump.

In the Republican-leaning megastate, one of the most intense elections ahead of Tuesday’s primaries has been the battle for a coastal northeast Florida state Senate district. The race is pitting Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis and other Tallahassee power brokers against an unlikely alliance of foes that includes the Republican presidential nominee, trial lawyers and the colorful Democratic donor John Morgan.

The race in District 7 has been one of the most expensive primaries in the state this year, outstripping congressional contests. It sees state Rep. Tom Leek, an attorney who rose to the powerful spot of House budget chair, against a former St. Johns County sheriff who jumped into the race just a few months ago. Leek, who endorsed DeSantis for his presidential run, was tapped as the favorite by state Senate leaders and won endorsements from a long line of Florida Republicans — including the governor and U.S. Sen. Rick Scott.

But his candidacy was staunchly opposed by the state’s trial lawyers, including Morgan. Then, two weeks ago, David Shoar, Leek’s opponent, picked up an endorsement from Trump himself, a move that came after incoming Republican state Senate President Ben Albritton called on Shoar to drop out of the race and suggested that Shoar was lying about being backed by the president.

This is far from the only race that Trump has sounded off on in his adopted home state. Trump, who cast his own ballot in person in Palm Beach County last week, has endorsed multiple Republicans ahead of congressional primaries and even down-ballot contests such as Miami-Dade sheriff and Miami-Dade supervisor of elections.

In the increasingly bitter state Senate race, both sides have spent millions on advertising hammering their opponent, an unusually high amount in a district that has roughly 540,000 people. Trump, however, has doubled down on his support, firing off another social media post touting Shoar over the weekend. Shoar’s campaign also released a video where Trump on camera praised him as “100 percent MAGA.”

“The Tallahassee establishment is spending millions attacking me because just like President Trump, I can’t be bought or controlled by the powers that be,” Shoar said in a statement.

Albritton did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

The collision course between Senate Republicans and Trump represents the second cycle in a row where Senate Republicans’ attempts to shape the GOP landscape have not gone as planned.

Ahead of the 2022 midterms, it was DeSantis clashing with legislative leaders . He waded into several state Senate races as well and forced Senate Republicans to alter their plans. One candidate in a Tampa Bay Senate race who had gotten financial support from Senate leaders quickly withdrew after DeSantis endorsed Jay Collins, a Green Beret veteran who had been running for Congress but switched races.

DeSantis did not play the same outsize role in legislative races in 2024. Those close to DeSantis discussed finding a possible challenger to state Rep. Randy Fine (R), a Brevard County legislator who feuded with the governor last year after Fine flipped his endorsement in the presidential race from DeSantis to Trump.

Fine is running for a Space Coast state Senate seat and has been endorsed by Trump as well. Several sources — who were granted anonymity in order to discuss private, internal deliberations — said the governor and other top aides were angered by Albritton’s decision to endorse Fine before qualifying had closed. But in the end, DeSantis stayed out of the contest.

The tug-of-war between Republicans during this year’s primary season is not expected to have a significant impact on control of the Florida Legislature. The GOP has supermajorities in both chambers that have helped them in recent years enact a slew of bills that DeSantis touted during his failed presidential run. Democrats this year are aiming to claw back enough seats to end Republicans’ supermajority status in at least one chamber, but no one anticipates either the House or Senate to flip.

Republicans have controlled the Florida Senate for 30 years, but they split off their fundraising and political operations from the Republican Party of Florida more than a decade ago. While Senate leaders have changed, many of the consultants and staff for the Florida Republican Senatorial Campaign Committee have remained intact.

Usually when the committee has charged into a primary with money and help, it has won. But the race for Senate District 7 could be a severe test of that.

During the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee last month, Albritton took time to single out Shoar in a gaggle with reporters. Coming just days after the attempted assassination attempt on Trump, Albritton said that Shoar was being helped financially by people who also supported “Never Trumpers” and the Lincoln Project’s Rick Wilson. He called it a “deception” for Shoar to suggest he was backed by the former president.

“David Shoar has no place in the state’s upper chamber,” Albritton said in July. “We must unite and support President Trump.” Albritton at the time added that “we will do whatever it takes to make sure that [Leek] is elected.”

Despite calling on other Republicans to unite behind Trump, Senate Republicans have continued to support Leek after Trump’s endorsement of Shoar was posted on Truth Social. Shoar’s campaign has relied heavily on the former president’s backing, and Trump has made clear in a video posted this weekend he is not backing down.

“He has been with us since the beginning,” Trump said.

But Trump isn’t their only primary headache this cycle. Senate Republicans also find themselves playing defense in court in another contentious primary.

They got hit with a lawsuit over ads attacking a primary rival to their endorsed candidate, state Rep. Keith Truenow (R), who is running in a central Florida race. Albritton and the Florida Republican Senatorial Campaign Committee have been sued by Bowen Kou, a Chinese American grocery store owner, over what Kou’s lawsuit contends are libelous mailers that suggest he is being controlled by China and the Chinese Communist Party. Lawyers for Albritton denied the mailers were libelous and tried to get the lawsuit dismissed, but a judge rejected their motion.

Anthony Sabatini, the chair of the Lake County Republican Party who is also representing Kou in his libel case, blasted Senate Republicans for intervening in the primary as a “terrible move.” He said Republicans should be using their financial resources to battle initiatives on abortion access and recreational marijuana that will be on the November ballot.

“They should not be getting involved in primaries,” Sabatini said. “They have wasted millions of dollars when they could’ve been spending that against Amendment 3 and 4.”

Kimberly Leonard contributed to this report.