He joins Ag Commissioner Adam Putnam and former State Sen. from Clearwater Jack Latvala (who somehow hasn't dropped out yet) on the GOP gubernatorial candidate roster for the August primary.
Also expected to announce after Florida's legislative session is House Speaker Richard Corcoran (R-Lutz), which sets up a battle royale over who's the most fiscally conservative, pro-religion (white/Western only, please), pro "family," not-pro-environment and, perhaps most importantly, Trump-like in rhetoric…In other words, who's better at pretending Florida doesn't have minorities or a coastline.
DeSantis first took office in 2013 to the joy of tea party activists, and for a spell in 2015-2016 was an aspiring senator — before a certain somebody realized he wasn't going to be president and that he wanted his senate seat back after all because…Pulse, or something. Awwww, Little Marco.
Unlike his announced and potential opponents, DeSantis has…oh, what do you call the card that beats all the other cards? Oh, right, the Joker: the backing of one Donald J. Trump.
“As somebody who is a military officer, an Iraq veteran, a proven conservative, and then with the support of the president, I'm in a position to exercise the leadership that can build on the great work that Gov. Rick Scott has done to advance economic opportunity, reform education and to drain the swamp in Tallahassee, which needs to be drained just like Washington,” DeSantis told Fox & Friends.
(Note: DeSantis tried to kill the Robert Mueller investigation. Bros before justice!)
DeSantis also has the support of ultra-religious teabagger zillionaire Rebekah Mercer and super-conservative casino magnate Sheldon Adelson.
Putnam has tried to be Trump-like thus far in the primary, but it's unclear if anyone buys it.
And Corcoran Corcoran has a buffet of opportunities to show just how much he can stick it to those snowflake atheists/the Republican establishment/the poor: the upcoming legislative session, which starts next week and drags on for two months. Corcoran can easily set himself up as a foil to Governor Rick Scott, who took office as a tea party guy and has become quite the moderate ahead of a possible run for U.S. Senate against Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson. (In other words: prepare for gridlock.)
The Democrat roster is lining up as well, with Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum, former Panhandle Congresswoman/Florida politics royalty Gwen Graham, businessman Chris King and Miami Beach Mayor Phil Levine. We have a feeling progressives are going to go for Gillum and moderates (including some Republicans, possibly!) are going to support Graham (even though the two aren't polar opposites or anything), which would set the Dems up for more unnecessary division and could inspire lackluster voter turnout that leads to another climate denier in the governor's mansion (see: 2014, etc.)…but we digress.
Their trump card, assuming the Great American Dumpster Fire continues to burn throughout the year, is Trump himself.
Graham issued a statement pointing that out Friday morning:
"Ron DeSantis running as Trump's hand-picked candidate with the backing of out-of-state billionaires may endear him to the most partisan primary voters, but he is too extreme for Florida,” Graham said. “While DeSantis has dedicated his time in Congress to protecting Trump from Mueller and becoming a Fox News star, we look forward to a vigorous debate on the real issues that affect Florida families most. Ron DeSantis's support for privatizing public schools, his denial of climate change and his votes to cut Medicare are just out of touch with Florida."
Wake us up in August.
This article appears in Jan 4-11, 2018.