You’ve seen him on billboards, but you won’t see him on the ballot.
“I'm not going to do it because Mother Time is getting away from me,” said John Morgan, the 70-year-old founder of Morgan & Morgan, the largest personal injury law firm in the United States.
In a Monday morning social media post, he put to rest speculation that he’d enter the 2026 Florida governor’s race.
“I do like living in Hawaii, I do like my marijuana and I do like spending time with my grandchildren,” continued Morgan.
Today I have an announcement to make... pic.twitter.com/S2sZ5UFUMW
— John Morgan (@JohnMorganESQ) April 13, 2026
He noted he liked to take weed edibles at night: “I wouldn't be able to take my gummies during hurricane season,” he said. He splits time between Florida and Maui.
“I also started thinking about the job itself, and I'm not the kind of guy that can campaign door-to-door,” he said.
Morgan played a pivotal role in state marijuana policy, devoting loads of cash toward legalizing medical marijuana in Florida and campaigning for the so-far-unsuccessful push to allow recreational marijuana.
“If I was your governor, I would free or parole every person in jail for possession then expunge everyone’s record,” Morgan said in a radio advertisement for the failed 2024 recreational marijuana proposed ballot measure.
He also was a big backer of the successful 2020 amendment raising the state minimum wage to $15.
Morgan openly floated a gubernatorial run. With his wealth and name recognition, he would’ve been a significant candidate.
“Today, I went to a funeral over in Tampa,” Morgan said in the Monday video. “I had breakfast early, and five different people came up to my table and said, ‘Please run for governor.’”
Now he has his answer.
“There was really one way I would do it — if someone entered the race that I really had a problem with, and I don't think that's going to happen,” he said.
Morgan used to be a notable Democratic donor but eventually split from the party and is now pushing for a new one.
“I believe what's missing in Florida and across the country is a third party,” he said in the video. “I'm going to be rolling out the paperwork that I've already got done to have a third party in Florida.”
He added that he would be hosting a $100,000 party-naming contest.
There’s already a crowded field of gubernatorial candidates.
Leading the polls on the Republican side is U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds, who has President Donald Trump’s endorsement.
Other notable GOP candidates include former state House Speaker Paul Renner, current Lieutenant Governor Jay Collins and investor James Fishback.
On the Democratic end, there’s David Jolly, a former Republican U.S. Representative who left the party because of Trump. There’s also Jerry Demings, the Orange County mayor and a former sheriff and police chief.
If you have any questions about state government or the legislative process, you can ask the Your Florida team by clicking here.
This story was produced by WUSF as part of a statewide journalism initiative funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
