Ron DeSantis’ re-election in Florida puts 2024, and Donald Trump, in sight
- Re-election for Florida’s Governor Ron DeSantis bolstered his rise as a prominent Republican star with potential White House ambitions
- Donald Trump has teased a third presidential run and grown frustrated with DeSantis’ refusal to rule out a 2024 campaign
Ron DeSantis won a second term as Florida governor, a victory that could bolster a potential challenge of former president Donald Trump for a White House run in 2024.
The Republican governor beat Democratic challenger Charlie Crist by a tally of 59 per cent to 40 per cent in the third most populous state in the US, according to Associated Press.
DeSantis, 44, hasn’t said he plans to run in 2024 and squarely avoided questions about the presidential race during his debate with Crist.
Still, he has constantly popped up in polls as Republican voters’ preferred standard-bearer should Trump decide against making a third presidential bid. DeSantis has also secured the support of big-ticket donors, including billionaire Citadel founder Ken Griffin.
DeSantis won one of the 36 gubernatorial races that took place across the US on Tuesday.
They’re taking on added significance this year after the US Supreme Court put the polarising issue of abortion in the hands of state governments and limited what they can do to regulate guns. Those issues were front and centre in Texas where Republican Governor Greg Abbott won, according to NBC and Fox.
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DeSantis thanked voters for what he called a “historic, landslide victory” in a speech in Tampa, Florida. He didn’t mention Trump or speculation that he will run for president, but he did say “I have only begun to fight”.
Trump escalated his rivalry with DeSantis, warning that he would expose damaging information if the Florida governor were to challenge him for the Republican presidential nomination.
“If he runs, he could hurt himself very badly,” Trump said in an interview with Fox News and other outlets. “I would tell you things about him that won’t be very flattering – I know more about him than anybody, other than, perhaps, his wife.”
DeSantis gained national attention for his opposition to strict measures aimed at slowing the spread of Covid-19, and has made himself a standard bearer of the conservative backlash to growing tolerance for LGBTQ rights.
The Florida governor also signed a 15-week abortion ban into law earlier this year, joining a nationwide push by conservatives to restrict reproductive rights.
In another appeal to hardline conservative politics, he sent dozens of undocumented migrants by plane to wealthy Martha’s Vineyard in Massachusetts – a move that sparked a class-action lawsuit against him in the Democratic-led state.
Additional reporting by Agence France-Presse
