Ron DeSantis would not be governor of Florida without Donald Trump.
The approval of the then president in 2018 turned a young congressman into the runaway winner of a Republican primary, with a much more experienced favorite, Adam Putnam. Not quite three years later, many in the party see DeSantis as the person best placed to continue Trump’s legacy in 2024.
It was a rapid rise – and a faster seesaw of political fortunes, given where DeSantis’s reputation was early in the coronavirus crisis. He was ridiculed and second guessing because he rejected mask mandates and reopened businesses. His approach was unfavorably compared to other governors of both parties, including the now-fighting Democratic governor Andrew Cuomo of New York. DeSantis’ popularity in Florida is raging.
But since the onset of the pandemic, Florida has seen fewer peronal cases of coronavirus and deaths than many states, including many that have introduced the more restrictive measures. And DeSantis’ numbers for the polls go back a year before his re-election. In a survey by Mason-Dixon Polling & Strategy last month, he is with a 53 percent approval rating.
“I think he’s the best favorite to be the next president,” if Trump is not re-elected, said Joe Gruters, a Florida senator and Republican chairman.
Such statements can not be discounted as parochialism in a state where two other Republicans – sens. Marco Rubio and Rick Scott – do not cherish the ambitions of the White House. Nationally, the picture is equally encouraging for DeSantis.
At the Conservative Political Action Conference for hardcore GOP activists last month, he took second place for Trump in one presidential poll, and only in another for which the former president was excluded. A recent poll by Tony Fabrizio, Trump’s mainstays in 2016 and 2020, showed that DeSantis and several others are vying for second place in a field led by former president and shows that the governor is linking with former vice president Mike Pence is as the second choice among Trump’s supporters. . Rubio and Scott both came close to the bottom.
“If you look under the guise of the numbers, DeSantis gets a lot of support from Trump voters in the absence of Trump,” Fabrizio said. “While the media defeated him when the anti-Cuomo and DeSantis stood up for themselves, the voters liked it. They associate that kind of scandal and you talk to President Trump. He inherits a lot of it.”
Allies say DeSantis, who did not respond to requests for comment, enjoys a conflicting relationship with a press that he said made him a Republican martyr, exactly the kind that could position itself as the heir to the Trump mantle. Those who work in or around his political career maintain that he will only focus on 2022, but acknowledge the temptations of 2024.
“Ron DeSantis has quickly become the most recognizable Republican governor in the country, and I think that’s just fine for both his re-election and what he wants to do next,” said Brad Herold, DeSantis’ 2018 campaign manager.
Donors outside Florida are eager to get on the ground floor, said Nick Iarossi, a Tallahassee lobbyist and DeSantis fundraiser.
“I’ve been doing this for twenty years,” Iarossi said, “and you do not normally have prominent donors from other states reaching out and saying, ‘Hey, how do I meet this man? How do I support him? I think he’s going to be president one day. “And I want to get to know him now. I want to support him in his 2022 election to make sure he wins if we need him in 2024.”
DeSantis’ appeal is not isolated on Trump hardliners. His job selection in the Mason-Dixon poll was 59 percent among independents.
Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, whose light-hearted conservatism in Trumps collapsed in the 2016 presidential election, rarely comments on politics these days. But in response to questions via email about DeSantis’ future, Bush praised.
“I’m not in the money business,” Bush replied, “but I’m a fan of Ron DeSantis.
Not everyone is, of course. Only 15 percent of Democrats in the Mason-Dixon poll approved DeSantis’ performance. One Democratic group, Ron Be Gone, recently began pushing against his re-election offer and preventing him from becoming a strong 2024 candidate.
At 42, DeSantis, an Ivy League-trained naval lawyer and veteran of the Iraq war, is the youngest governor of the country. He served two more terms in his seat in the Jacksonville area and was prepared to run for the Senate in 2016 until Rubio foiled as a presidential candidate and called for re-election. But even admirers describe DeSantis as a political loner. His victory in 2018 was more based on the Trump approval for which he auditioned for Fox News and not on the chicken-eating glove. He has many followers but few closest advisers besides his wife, Casey.
“To run for office across the country, he has invested in the cable news profile,” said Matt Caldwell, a Republican who lost a close race to state agriculture commissioner in 2018. “His relationship is different. When we go to a state party meeting, I say I’m going to see people I’ve personally presented over the past few decades and knocked on doors. ‘
DeSantis ‘biggest primary victory and dealing with the pandemic deserved the party members’ embrace, Caldwell added. This week, the governor convened a panel of scientific and medical professionals – including dr. Scott Atlas, a former Trump pandemic adviser – who shares his opposition to mandates and locks. Democrats plan to put Covid-19 at the center of next year’s race for governor. They point to its vaccine distribution program, which critics say is benefiting wealthy donors. They also take note of more than 32,000 coronavirus deaths and characterize DeSantis as someone who is cold about comparative data that makes Florida look better than other states.
“His arrogance and total detachment from the pain and suffering of our communities is very telling of someone who is in this position to advance his political ambitions, and it is clear that they are already discussing 2024,” said Debbie Mucarsel-Powell, a former South Florida congressman and one of the leaders of the Ron Be Gone effort.
DeSantis supporters say they are sensitive to the death toll, but believe DeSantis made the right, difficult choices to keep the economy afloat.
“With all due respect to those who fell ill or who passed or know someone who passed, I think we were able to fight the storm without destroying people’s businesses and people’s economic lives,” said Nelson Diaz, a Republican. lobbyist and former chairman of the Miami-Dade County GOP.
The Mason-Dixon poll found that DeSantis had a significant lead over two Democrats who could challenge him: Representative Charlie Crist, the former governor who was previously a Republican, and Nikki Fried, the state’s commissioner for agriculture and consumer services. . And DeSantis is pushing for stricter vote-by-post rules ahead of its bid for a second term, a battle that could further enchant supporters of a former president who falsely claims his last election was stolen. Some Republicans who are friendly with DeSantis have dropped the warning they usually preach in a state known for close elections and radiate confidence for 2022.
“I think this is perhaps one of the easiest government elections we’ve seen in Florida in a long time,” said Blaise Ingoglia, a state representative and former chairman of the state party.
“What people in general like stands up for what you believe in,” Ingoglia added. “Be a fighter, right? And that’s why Ron DeSantis loved himself with the Donald Trump base – a base I predict will not disappear.”