After months of anticipation, the Governor of Florida, Ron DeSantisformally entered the Republican presidential primary race this Wednesday. As of now, he is considered the former president’s strongest Republican rival. donald trump in the crowded 2024 race, but many voters are just getting to know the 44-year-old governor.
Here are five things to know about DeSantis, the GOP’s newest presidential candidate:
1. THE FIRST LIFE OF DESANTIS
A Florida native with family roots in the Midwest, DeSantis was a standout baseball player in his younger years. He represented the Dunedin, Florida team in the 1991 Little League World Series before becoming the captain of the Yale University team.
After a brief teaching stint in high school, he went on to Harvard Law School. He later became officer of the Attorney General of the Navya position that landed him in Iraq and the Guantanamo Bay detention camp.
What’s on DeSantis’ agenda? A look at the laws he passed as Florida governor, from abortion to guns
DeSantis ran for Congress in 2012, won his Orlando-area district and became a founding member of the Far-right Freedom Caucus on Capitol Hill. Like many conservatives in Congress at the time, he pushed for changes to Medicare and Social Security, including a measure that would have raised the retirement age to 70.
He served in Congress for three terms before launching what was considered a remote run for governor in 2018. He won that race by less than a percentage point before securing a reelection last November.
2. ANTI WOKE CRUSADE
Perhaps more than any Republican leader in the United States, DeSantis has fought for and enacted policies that inflame the nation’s cultural divisions. He calls it his war against the “woke” movement.
He has just concluded a legislative session that establishes him as perhaps the most conservative governor aggressive and consummate in the country’s bitter culture wars.
He signed and later expanded the Parental Rights in Education Bill, known to critics as the “Don’t Say Gay” law, which prohibits instruction or classroom discussion of LGBTQ issues in Florida public schools to all grades. He also signed a law that prohibits state and federal funding for diversity, equity and inclusion programs at state colleges and universities.
This spring, signed a law banning abortions at six weeks, which is before most women realize they are pregnant. He just removed an elected prosecutor who vowed not to charge people under Florida’s new abortion restrictions or doctors who provide gender-affirming care.
DeSantis also signed into law this spring that allows Florida residents carry a concealed firearm without permission. He pushed through new measures that experts warn would weaken press freedom. He also took control of a liberal arts college that he believed was indoctrinating students with left-wing ideology.
3. THE BATTLE AGAINST DISNEY
DeSantis is willing to fight anyone or anything that gets in his way. There may be no better example than his feud with entertainment giant Disney, one of the largest employers in the State of Florida.
The fight began last year after Disney, under pressure from both internal and external, publicly opposed the the “Don’t Say Gay” law. In retaliation, DeSantis took over the Disney World Autonomous District through legislation passed by Florida lawmakers and appointed a new board of supervisors that would oversee municipal services for the sprawling theme parks and hotels. DeSantis has threatened to build a state prison near the park property.
The dispute has drawn condemnation from business leaders and their Republican opponents, who said the measures are at odds with small-government conservatism.
Disney filed a lawsuit against the DeSantis Administration, a legal battle that will likely follow the governor into the 2024 presidential race. Amid the fight, Disney announced last week that it was scrapping plans to build a new campus in central Florida that would have employed 2,000 people.
4. IS DESANTIS A MORE ELIGIBLE TRUMP?
DeSantis’s allies say he is more eligible than Trump in a presidential election. Just six months ago, DeSantis won his re-election in Florida by an astonishing 19 points percentage, even as Republicans in other states fought. His victory represented the largest margin of victory in any Florida gubernatorial race in decades. He even carried Miami-Dade County, a former Democratic stronghold teeming with voters of color.
Of course, it’s unclear if that success would translate to the national stage. Voters often view gubernatorial elections differently than federal office elections. Still, DeSantis’s team has signaled that it will highlight eligibility in stark contrast to Trump, who faces multiple legal threats and he presided over Republican defeats in three consecutive national elections.
DeSantis’ super political action committee recently distributed pamphlets to primary voters describing it this way: “A conservative leader who fights and wins.”
Still, there are questions about his ability to connect with both voters and party leaders on a personal level. Largely for that reason, the majority of Florida’s Republican congressional delegation has already backed Trump over DeSantis. There have also been numerous anecdotes in recent weeks that reveal the extent to which DeSantis has ignored other Republican officials in Florida and elsewhere throughout his political career.
It has also had trouble maintaining a close network of senior staff. To this day, his wife, the former television news journalist Casey DeSantisis considered his main political adviser.
While courting voters, DeSantis also struggles at times to display the campaign charisma and quick thinking that often defines successful candidates nationally. He has done everything possible to avoid unscripted public appearances and media scrutiny while governor, which is difficult, if not impossible, as a presidential candidate.
5. TRUMP AND DESANTIS, FROM ALLIES TO RIVALS
There may be bad blood between DeSantis and Trump, but it wasn’t always like that. DeSantis has acknowledged that he likely would not have become governor of Florida without Trump’s endorsement in 2018. DeSantis has also embraced Trump’s fiery persona, his populist policies and even some of his rhetoric and mannerisms.
But in recent months, Trump has focused almost exclusively on undermining the political appeal of the Florida governor. That’s in large part because Trump and his team believe that DeSantis may be their only legitimate threat for the Republican nomination.
Trump has referred to DeSantis as “Ron DeSanctimonious” and “Meatball Ron”, among other derisive nicknames. During his rallies, Trump questions DeSantis’ loyalty. In paid ads and social media posts, Trump also took aim at DeSantis’ record on Social Security and Medicare.
He has even questioned DeSantis’ sexuality by sharing posts on social media that suggest DeSantis behaved inappropriately with underage students when he briefly taught high school in his early 20s.
