Republican Governor Ron DeSantis was inaugurated Tuesday for a second term in office in Florida, and the country’s political community will be watching.
DeSantis is considered by political predictors to be the 2024 presidential candidate, so the governor will be sworn in at Tallahassee’s historic state capitol, about two months after his decisive 19-point reelection win. speech at noon on the stairs of
With his popularity skyrocketing among Republicans across the country, and his place in the early 2024 Republican presidential nomination ballot rivaling and even surpassing former President Donald Trump, a speech from DeSantis , will be watched closely for how much it focuses on Florida and national issues. And on the manifestation of his national ambitions.
“During the quiet early moments of the presidential primary, DeSantis has clearly become the frontrunner. So every action, every move, every speech he makes is monitored and analyzed with a fine comb. Maybe,” Neil Levesque, executive director of politics at the New Hampshire Institute, told Fox News.
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Florida Governor Ron DeSantis waves to his wife, Casey, and their children (from left, Mason, Madison, and Mamie) during an inaugural rehearsal at the Old Capitol in Tallahassee Monday, January 2, 2023. .
(AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)
The “Florida Free State” themed inauguration is part of a two-day celebration that kicks off Monday night with a cocktail party and dinner, followed by Casey DeSantis’ “Cheers to a Million Moms” on Tuesday. , which honors 1.1 million people. The first lady of Florida mobilized to help her husband’s re-election campaign.
Former Congressman DeSantis narrowly won his first election as governor in 2018, partly due to strong endorsement from then-President Trump. But the governor of Florida has seen a surge in conservatives across the country in the past two-and-a-half years, thanks to a strong backlash against restrictions imposed by the coronavirus pandemic and his aggressive actions as conservative culture warriors targeting the media and businesses. We have seen his popularity skyrocket among factions.
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The Governor has become a ferocious fundraiser during the 2022 election cycle, building a huge war chest with donations from Floridians and conservatives across the country, raising more than $200 million. And his nearly 20-point victory over former Republican governor-turned-Democratic Congressman Charlie Christ, along with a double-digit reelection win by Republican Senator Marco Rubio, is enough to turn a once-fighting state into a red state. It was helpful.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis delivers his victory speech after defeating Democrat Charlie Christ at the Tampa Convention Center on November 8, 2022.
(Octavio Jones/Getty Images)
DeSantis, 44, is currently the youngest governor in the United States, but Arkansas governor-elect Sarah Huckabee Sanders will take the oath of office on January 10 and seek the nomination. The state legislature is overwhelmingly friendly Republican. Part of his so-called “Freedom Agenda” includes a pledge to remove sales taxes on certain items and make the process of joining and staying in unions more difficult for teachers.
For more than a year, DeSantis has regularly dismissed rumors of a 2024 White House run and focused on running for re-election as governor. However, he became a major force in the Republican Party as he built a political brand that stretched from coast to coast.
And in his victory speech on election night in November, he seemed to hint at spreading Florida’s conservative successes across the country.
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“We have redrawn the political map,” declared DeSantis. “Our country is in trouble because of a failed leadership in Washington, but Florida is on the right track.” urged governors to consider the 2024 national election.
Delivering a keynote address that received multiple standing ovations at the Republican Jewish Coalition’s recent annual leadership conference in mid-November, which is considered the GOP 2024 president’s first major cattle call, the governor I repeated a well-used oath. We still have a lot of work to do and the battle has only just begun.”
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis speaking at the Republican Jewish Coalition’s annual leadership conference in Las Vegas on November 19, 2022.
(AP Photo/John Locher)
As Fox News first reported last month, DeSantis has revealed his role as a civil servant in a new book to be released in late February, in another step by conservative champions toward a possible 2024 presidential election. DeSantis’ autobiography is entitled Courage to Be Free: A Blueprint for Florida’s American Revival.
Writing a book is a rite of passage for many potential and actual presidential candidates.
Two more signs have emerged over the past month, suggesting the governor may test the waters for a nationwide campaign. DeSantis has upped the stakes in its fight against COVID vaccine makers, calling for a grand jury investigation into any potential wrongdoing. And recently, DeSantis has relaunched her Google and Facebook ads, thus targeting a national audience.
DeSantis met with some of his top donors last month.The inaugural event will be another opportunity for the governor to thank his political donors.
A source in the governor’s wider political trajectory, who requested anonymity to speak more freely, pointing to DeSantis’ ties to his donors, told Fox News: What the timeline will be, what his path will be.
If DeSantis decides to launch a 2024 campaign, don’t expect an announcement anytime soon. Sources told Fox News that there won’t be an announcement until Florida’s legislative session ends in May.
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Meanwhile, Mr. Trump has gone up in volume about attacking Mr. DeSantis before and after the midterm elections, debuting the governor’s new nickname, “Ron DeSanctimonias.”
But DeSantis was not the bait and refused to respond to Trump’s taunts.