According to the Washington Free Beacon, public records indicate that Fishback claimed a Washington, D.C., condominium as his primary residence through at least tax year 2025 and cast a ballot in the district in 2020.
That history could prove disqualifying in Florida, where the state constitution mandates that a governor “must be an elector not less than thirty years of age who has resided in the state for the preceding seven years,” a standard meant to ensure that the state’s chief executive is firmly rooted in the community he seeks to govern.
Property records show that Fishback purchased a $400,000 condo in Northwest Washington in September 2021, identifying himself on the deed as a “single man” whose prior address was another D.C. property owned by his mother. The deed also contains a sworn affidavit in which Fishback certifies, “subject to criminal penalties,” that the unit is a residential property “that is occupied and is used exclusively for nontransient residential dwelling purposes”—a legal formulation that, in practice, designates the condo as his primary home.
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That designation opened the door to lucrative local tax benefits, and Fishback appears to have taken full advantage. District of Columbia tax records show he received roughly $1,500 per year in “homestead deductions” on the condo between 2023 and 2025, with the most recent deduction recorded on Aug. 4, 2025, indicating that he continued to claim the D.C. homestead benefit through tax year 2025.
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The residency revelations land at a politically sensitive moment for Fishback, who is attempting to mount an outsider campaign in a crowded Republican primary that includes Trump-endorsed Rep. Byron Donalds (R., Fla.) and Lieutenant Governor Jay Collins. While Florida’s GOP base has generally favored candidates with strong ties to the state and clear conservative credentials, Fishback’s paper trail suggests that, until very recently, his primary legal and financial ties were anchored in the nation’s capital rather than in the Sunshine State.
Fishback did not respond to a request for comment about his residency status or the tax records. His silence leaves unanswered how he intends to reconcile his D.C. voting history and homestead claims with Florida’s seven-year residency requirement, a constitutional safeguard that conservatives have long defended as a bulwark against carpetbagging and opportunistic political tourism.
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Though a Florida native, Fishback does not appear to have continuously lived in the state over the last seven years. Voting records reviewed by the Free Beacon show that he registered to vote in Washington, D.C., in 2020 using the same phone number now listed on his Florida campaign registration, and he voted in the district’s general election that year, with his D.C. registration still listed as active.
The residency issue is only the latest in a string of controversies dogging Fishback’s candidacy and raising questions about his judgment and character. A prolific poster on X, he has repeatedly targeted Donalds—who is black—with racially charged attacks, at one point calling him a “slave,” rhetoric that many conservatives view as not only offensive but politically suicidal in a party that has been working to expand its appeal among minority voters.
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Fishback’s professional record has also come under strain. In October, the board of trustees overseeing his firm, Azoria Capital LLC, voted to liquidate and terminate two of its exchange-traded funds, citing “recent litigation involving a principal of” Azoria, a reference widely understood to be to Fishback himself.
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Weeks later, in November, his former employer, Greenlight Capital, repossessed his 2022 Tesla Model Y to help cover legal fees after Fishback admitted to improperly sharing the hedge fund’s confidential information. Fishback had sued Greenlight over a job title dispute, claiming he had been the firm’s “head of macro,” a position Greenlight said did not exist, and he further asserted that he had served as an adviser to Elon Musk’s DOGE, though “the department’s senior officials said he did not.”
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His personal conduct has drawn even more serious allegations. An NBC News report in December detailed accusations that Fishback initiated an inappropriate relationship with a 17-year-old student involved in a middle and high school debate program he founded, a charge that cuts directly against conservative concerns about grooming and the protection of minors.
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In a court filing, the student alleged that Fishback “explicitly directed” her to keep their relationship secret, describing it as “an isolation tactic commonly employed in grooming scenarios.” Fishback has denied the allegations, but they have already had tangible consequences, prompting some school districts to sever ties with his program and leading to the resignation of a board member associated with his organization.
Financial disclosures from his fledgling gubernatorial campaign have done little to bolster his image as a viable contender. Earlier this month, Fishback released his first fundraising report, showing he had raised just $950 since entering the race in November, including $50 from his own campaign treasurer, a paltry sum in a statewide contest in one of the nation’s largest media markets.
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When news outlets reported the figure, Fishback lashed out, calling it “yet another lie by the fake news media to hurt our surging campaign.” He filed an amended report a day later, revising his total to $19,000—still a fraction of the $45 million raised by Donalds, whose strong fundraising and endorsement from President Donald Trump have cemented his status as the conservative frontrunner.
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Fishback did eventually purchase a home in Florida, but only in October 2022, a full year after acquiring his D.C. condo. The mortgage on the Florida property, reviewed by the Free Beacon, requires him to use the house as his “principal residence” within 60 days and to live there “for at least one year,” a standard clause that, if honored, would have shifted his primary residence from Washington to Florida.
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Yet four months after that purchase, in February 2023, Fishback again claimed the D.C. condo as his primary residence for tax purposes, saving $714 on his property tax bill, according to district records. That move suggests he continued to treat the Washington property—not the Florida house—as his main home, even as he positioned himself as a Florida-based conservative ready to lead the state.
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Local records show that Fishback claimed no homestead or similar exemptions on his Florida home between 2022 and 2025, further undercutting the notion that he maintained a primary residence in the state during that period. At the same time, he appears to have struggled with basic financial obligations in Florida, falling delinquent on his 2023 property taxes when he failed to pay a $431 bill and accrued $58 in penalties.
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Fishback’s broader financial picture appears strained, raising doubts about his ability to manage the fiscal responsibilities that come with high office. In an August deposition, he acknowledged that he did not have the means to pay more than $200,000 in legal fees owed to Greenlight, a disclosure that sits uneasily with his attempt to present himself as a competent steward of taxpayer dollars and a champion of free-market discipline.
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For Florida Republicans weighing their options in a primary that already features established conservative figures like Donalds and Collins, the pattern emerging around Fishback is difficult to ignore.
Between the unresolved grooming allegations, the professional and financial turmoil, the racially charged attacks on a fellow Republican, and now the serious questions about whether he even meets the state’s constitutional residency requirement, his campaign faces a steep climb in a party that increasingly demands both ideological reliability and personal accountability from its standard-bearers.
