Political insiders around the country are keeping a close eye on this local race, thanks to the Trump-DeSantis dynamic

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Political insiders across the country are watching a Florida race that you’ve probably seen flooding the airwaves for months. It’s a race between two Republicans, Florida House of Representative member Tom Leek and former St. Johns County Sheriff David Shoar for Florida State Senate in District 7.

Sources told News4JAX that because of the high-profile endorsements in the race including former President Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis political observers across America are watching it.

RELATED: Political ads going after Tom Leek have been running nonstop. He says vengeful trial lawyers are behind the attacks

The endorsements in this race for state senate are like no other. First, let’s start at the top. Tom Leek early on was endorsed by DeSantis. Then last week, News4JAX confirmed former President Donald Trump endorsed Shoar.

Conservative radio host Ed Dean, who hosts the Jacksonville-based “Ed Dean Radio Show” said almost every ad he’s running right now comes from the two campaigns.

“It’s almost like a proxy war,” Dean said. “So, Leek has the endorsement of Governor DeSantis, Jimmy Patronis, Ashley Moody and a lot of the senate Republican establishment. And Shoar’s, maybe the only endorsement he needs excluding trial lawyers...came out two weeks ago, Donald Trump. From what we understand Leek was up about 12 points, but the Shoar campaign has people close to Donald Trump that convinced him to do it. Now it’s pretty much tied.”

“David Shoar, who is 100% MAGA, and has been with us from the very beginning, has my Complete and Total Endorsement – HE WILL NEVER LET YOU DOWN!” Trump said in a statement.

But it’s not just Trump and DeSantis endorsements playing a role in this race. Leek has the endorsements of all the local sheriffs while Shoar has the backing of trial lawyers.

One trial lawyer to publicly criticize Leek was John Morgan who recently posted a video on social media platform X.

It’s been reported that the lawyers oppose Leek because he supports tort reform.

News4JAX asked Leek directly about this during an interview at the Republican National Convention.

“Listen, I didn’t ask for this. None of my races have ever been like this. No one has ever accused me of not being conservative. I knew one day they’d come looking for their pound of flesh. And now it’s my time to fight back and I’m going to keep fighting,” said Leek.

And both sides have called for the other to drop out. Last month the incoming head of the Florida State Senate called on Shoar to drop out.

Then last week Shoar sent News4JAX a statement calling for Leek to drop out.

“If he truly supports President Trump, then I call on Tom Leek to immediately drop out of the race and end his negative attacks against me,” Shoar wrote.