44-year-old Florida Governor Ronald DeSantis announced his entry on Wednesday to contest in the Republican primary for the seat of the president of the United States of America come 2024. His announcement comes as the party tries to move away from former President Donald Trump.
DeSantis revealed his decision in a Federal Election Commission filing before an online conversation with Twitter CEO Elon Musk.
The Florida governor’s announcement was to be streamed on Twitter Spaces beginning at 6 p.m. EDT. He was following up with prime-time appearances on conservative programmes, including Fox News and Mark Levin’s radio show.
DeSantis, who is considered a major threat to Trump, is expected to face questions about his readiness for the big job, especially taking into consideration his fast rise in the murky field of politics—which has seen him rise from a little-known congressman to two-term governor to a leading figure in the nation’s bitter fights over race, gender, abortion, and other divisive issues.
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Political pundits in the US consider his entry the biggest threat and greatest chance for the Republican Party to retake the White House from Democratic President Joe Biden—of which many see him as tilting the country too far left while failing to address inflation, immigration, and crime.
The Republican nominee will face Biden on the general election ballot in November 2024.
DeSantis has a lot in common with Trump, especially when taking into context the role the former president played in making him governor of the state of Florida. He begins his campaign in the top tier of two alongside Trump based on early public polling, fundraising, and campaign infrastructure.
The Florida governor has also adopted some of Trump’s style of politics, as he pushes the same populist policies, rhetoric, mannerisms, and fiery personality.
According to the Associated Press, DeSantis has one thing Trump does not: a credible claim that he may be more electable in a general election than Trump, who faces multiple legal threats and has presided over Republican losses in three consecutive national elections.
Just six months ago, DeSantis won his reelection in Florida by a stunning 19 percentage points, even as Republicans in many other states struggled. He also scored several major policy victories during the Republican-controlled Legislature’s spring session.
Aware of DeSantis’ draw, Trump has been almost singularly focused on undermining DeSantis’ political appeal for months. Trump and his team believe that DeSantis may be Trump’s only legitimate threat for the nomination.
Trump’s kitchen-sink attacks and nicknames won’t be DeSantis’ only hurdle.
DeSantis may be a political heavyweight in Florida and a regular on Fox News, but allies acknowledge that most primary voters in other states don’t know him well.
Who is Ron DeSantis?
Ronald DeSantis, born September 14, 1978, is an American politician and former military officer who has served as the 46th governor of Florida since 2019. He is a member of the Republican Party. He has represented Florida’s 6th congressional district in the U.S. House of Representatives from 2013 to 2018.
He attended Yale University and Harvard Law School. He enlisted in the U.S. Navy in 2004 and was promoted to lieutenant before serving as a legal advisor to SEAL Team One. When he returned to the U.S. after his military assignment abroad, the U.S. Department of Justice appointed him to serve as a Special Assistant U.S. Attorney at the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Middle District of Florida, a position he held until he was discharged from active military duty in 2010.
His journey into politics started when he was first elected to Congress in 2012. He was later reelected in 2014 and 2016.
He briefly ran for the U.S. Senate in 2016 but withdrew when incumbent senator Marco Rubio sought reelection.
However, DeSantis won the Republican nomination for the 2018 gubernatorial election and narrowly defeated the Democratic nominee, Tallahassee mayor Andrew Gillum, in the general election by 0.4 percent.
