What it’s like to share the name of the Governor of Florida

The governor finally returned our call.

At least, that’s what his friends call him.

Dunedin’s Ron DeSantis initially Unknown 727 area code displayed on his phone. But before long, he spoke with a reporter about what it was like to have one of the most famous names in American politics for him.

Dunedin’s Ron DeSantis is not that Ron DeSantis. Ron DeSantis, 44, is also from Dunedin, but is probably skeptical of a call from a Tampa Bay Times reporter.

Dunedin’s Ron DeSantis has never been elected to statewide public office. As far as he knows, he is not related to the Governor’s House family.

Like a real-life governor, Dunedin Ron has an American flag in front of his house. Unlike the governor, 64-year-old Dunedin Ron is a gearhead. He is a retired retired Ford Technician who maintains his workstation in a tidy garage.

“Suppose you have to call a bank or something and say your name. Dunedin Ron said, ‘I’m Ron DeSantis, this is not the government.'”

It’s a strange time for those with the same name as Florida’s 46th governor, who is widely presumed to be eyeing a run for president of the United States. Subject to an avalanche of daily national news coverage, Gov. Ron DeSantis is as close to his household name as being governor.

Until the last few years, there was nothing special about the name Ron DeSantis. Sharing his name was nothing like being called “Joseph Biden” or “Donald Trump.” (In Florida, Donald Trump has his three votes. Joe Biden has zero.)

But now Ron DeSantis, whoever he is, faces a particular set of social obstacles. Expect annoying questions about personal politics from casual acquaintances and local newspapers.

There are many Rons in America, but few named DeSantis. According to 2010 Census data, this is her 3,530th most common surname in the United States. Between 1922 and his 2021, about 1,072,270 babies have been named “Ronald.” According to federal data, he is the 26th most popular male baby name in America.

Six Ronald DeSantis (DeSantii?) are registered to vote in Florida, including a famous person who lives in Tallahassee. Five Republicans.

Dunedin Ron’s father and only Democrat also goes by the name Ron. Governor Ron has a father named Ron who also lives in Dunedin.

I can see how this can be confusing.

number 5 Manatee County resident Ron DeSantis did not respond to a request for comment. day, giving him another common ground with the governor.

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Tampa Ron De Santis, 54 — his family spells his name with a space between ‘de’ and ‘Santis’ — and calls himself an Italian redneck from Winter Haven . For years, he co-owned a company that rented and sold satellite communications equipment and dabbled in real estate development.

Succulents crowd the front porch of Tampalong’s house. His one of the rooms is pirate themed and has a round window in the closet. In front of the house stands an old-fashioned English telephone box. A friend used to run a British themed pub and Tampalong wanted to donate the cast iron building. It was too big – he was probably a ton and at least eight feet tall – so now he lives in the front yard.

Governor DeSantis is a controversial figure in his city, as Democratic lawmakers gather in Tallahassee every year to denounce his agenda.

His Tampalon, apparently, is not.

“Hello, Ronnie!” A neighbor greeted me as I was chatting with a reporter this morning.

Ron De(INSERT SPACE HERE)Santis DeSantis, a politician before running for governor. It seems that the two were participating in a frequent flyer program for a major airline. Airlines routinely disrupted them, so Tampalon continued to receive flight notifications from then-U.S. Congressman DeSantis, an elected official who always flew from Jacksonville to Washington, D.C., or to his home. I said flying.

Tampa Rong said his name comes with an interesting inconvenience. When he takes food orders, employees sometimes think he’s messing with them.

But neither Tampa Rong nor Dunedin Rong seemed too emphatic that their names were suddenly ubiquitous.

Dunedin Ron was happy to tell us about his first brand new car, the Dodge Challenger Scat Pack. A grin appeared on his face when he was asked why he liked to buy American.

“I’ll show you,” he said, reaching for the key on the hook near the door from the garage to his house.

With the push of a button, Dunedin Ron brought the car to life. It roared with the classic sound of American Muscle.

“This is something that electric vehicles will never be able to do,” says Dunedin Ron.

In 2020, Ron DeSantis announced in a news release that improving Florida’s electric vehicle infrastructure is one of his policy goals.

If Ron DeSantis has a problem with it, he has to take it up with Ron DeSantis.