Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is widely expected to run for president in 2024, although he has yet to formally announce his candidacy. Insiders have revealed that he has privately discussed his campaign plans without any caveats suggesting he is still deciding.[0] He has toured the country to promote his book and his record as Florida governor, visited Iowa and New Hampshire, laid out his foreign-policy vision, received endorsements from elected officials, and directly attacked Donald Trump while claiming he could beat President Biden.[0] Despite this, he is currently facing criticism from Republicans on multiple fronts, and recent polls suggest he is losing support among Republican voters.
DeSantis is attempting to strike a balance between consolidating Trump’s supporters and winning over the Republican establishment.[1] When he won his re-election in 2022 in a landslide while a number of Trump-aligned candidates lost their midterm battles, DeSantis seemed like the new face of the party.[1] But Trump, who has given him a variety of nasty nicknames, has not gone away and still dominates 2024 polls of the GOP field.[0]
Despite this, DeSantis has already received the backing of a prominent Republican in New Hampshire ahead of the state’s first-in-the-nation GOP primary.[2] He has also been praised for his leadership and record of success in Florida, which can serve as a model for how Republicans can win back suburban voters across the country.[3]
However, DeSantis’ biggest quandary is whether to double down on the culture-war hijinks that could theoretically chip away at Trump’s MAGA backing or develop some appeal to swing voters in order to show that he’s the more electable Republican, even if he’s marginally less repellant to the liberal elites GOP primary voters want to smite.[4]
One potential issue that could hurt DeSantis in a general election is his recent signing of the Heartbeat Protection Act, essentially outlawing abortion in Florida after six weeks.[5] While this could be a positive in a Republican primary race, it may put him in a difficult position for a general election.[6]
Overall, while DeSantis has not yet formally declared that he will run for president, speculation is high that he will do so. He has dropped some pretty strong hints about when he’ll make things official, stating that he does not want to short-circuit any of the good work that he has done as governor.[0]
0. “Has Ron DeSantis Announced His 2024 Candidacy?: Updates” New York Magazine, 1 May. 2023, https://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/ron-desantis-announced-2024-updates.html
1. “DeSantis vs Trump: There Are No Winners” Socialist Alternative, 3 May. 2023, https://www.socialistalternative.org/2023/05/03/desantis-vs-trump-there-are-no-winners/
2. “N.H. Republican leader to DeSantis: ‘Get into this race’” The Boston Globe, 5 May. 2023, https://www.bostonglobe.com/2023/05/05/metro/nh-republican-leader-desantis-get-into-this-race
3. “New Hampshire House majority leader endorses DeSantis” The Hill, 4 May. 2023, https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/3988048-new-hampshire-house-majority-leader-endorses-desantis
4. “DeSantis’s Dilemma: Go Mega-MAGA or Prove Electability?” New York Magazine, 4 May. 2023, https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2023/05/desantiss-dilemma-go-mega-maga-or-prove-electability.html
5. “Ron DeSantis Faces Republican Criticism From All Sides” Newsweek, 30 Apr. 2023, https://www.newsweek.com/ron-desantis-faces-republican-criticism-all-sides-1797567
6. “Team DeSantis: We’re about action, not Beltway chatter” Washington Examiner, 5 May. 2023, https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/team-desantis-were-about-action-not-beltway-chatter
