• Matt Gaetz withdrew his candidacy for attorney general on Thursday.
• But he has since hinted at a possible run for governor of Florida in 2026.
• Governor Ron DeSantis of Floria will step down in 2026.

Former Rep. Matt Gaetz‘s bid for attorney general may have been short-lived, but he appears to have his eyes set on another big career move.

In a tweet on Saturday, Florida State Rep. Anthony Sabatini posted on X his prediction that Gaetz would be Florida’s next governor. Gaetz responded to Sabatini with a gif of the Florida state flag.

Gaetz resigned from Congress in November after President-elect Donald Trump appointed him attorney general.

But that offer quickly soured when Gaetz found himself embroiled in a new scandal, including new developments in a long-running sex trafficking investigation against him. The DOJ refused to file a complaint against Gaetz in 2023, but the House Ethics Committee continued to investigate the allegations.

CNN reported On Thursday, Gaetz stepped down shortly after he was contacted for comment on an accusation that he had a sexual relationship with a 17-year-old at a party in 2017.

Gaetz has denied any wrongdoing in the sex trafficking investigation and encounter. However, he withdrew his candidacy for attorney general on Thursday afternoon.

“While momentum was strong, it was clear that my confirmation was unfairly becoming a distraction from the critical work of the Trump/Vance transition,” Gaetz wrote on X on Thursday.

After Gaetz’s withdrawal, Trump wrote on Truth Social that he appreciated Gaetz’s “efforts.”

“He was doing very well but, at the same time, he did not want to be a distraction to the administration, for which he has great respect,” Trump wrote.

“Matt has a wonderful future and I can’t wait to see all the great things he does!” Trump added.

Meanwhile, in Florida, Governor Ron DeSantis has ruled out 2026. DeSantis, once a Trump protégé, got on the bad side of his former boss when he started running an ephemeral, Supported by Elon Musk presidential race against Trump.

Florida has had a continuous slate of Republican governors since Jeb Bush won the gubernatorial race in 1998.

It’s unclear what Gaetz’s chances will look like in 2026 if he runs for governor. But Gaetz is now looking for a new position: He said last week that he has no plans to join the 119th Congress, to which he was elected in November to represent Washington’s 1st Congressional District. Florida.

“I’m still going to be in the fight, but it’ll be from a new perch,” Gaetz said conservative podcaster Charlie Kirk last week.

“It seems like a pretty poetic time to allow this great new blood to come in, to allow my district to have high-quality representation,” Gaetz said, adding that he would not go on a “tropical excursion.” for the remainder of his term. life.

For now, he appears to be enjoying some downtime – fishing, spending time with his wife, Ginger, And earn money by filming videos on Cameo like his former colleague, George Santos.

Gaetz did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.