( Spanish) — Ron DeSantis will try to be re-elected governor of Florida in the elections next Tuesday, November 8, in which the House of Representatives and the Senate will also be renewed at the national level and authorities in a total of 36 states.
The Republican, who has held office since 2019, will face Democratic candidate Charlie Crist, in an attempt to strengthen his party’s dominance over Florida, a state traditionally considered swinging — that is, it used to oscillate between Republican and Democratic majorities —, and that in recent years has become the base of former President Donald Trump.
How has DeSantis done in these years and how does he get to the elections?
Before winning the 2018 elections and assuming the Governorate in January 2019, DeSantis, 44, had served as representative for Florida in the United States Congress and as a federal prosecutor.
Already in his years as a representative he became one of the main defenders of the future president Donald Trump -although now he is seen as possible presidential candidate for 2024— and in a GOP stronghold: in 2018 reported that DeSantis was on a list of representatives who had received contributions from the National Rifle Association (NRA) for the 2016 campaign.
His years as governor
DeSantis assumed the governorship of Florida in January 2019, and shortly after he had to deal with the covid-19 pandemic in a state hard hit by the virus: with 1,465,903 confirmed cases and 11,648 deaths, Miami-Dade County is among the most affected in the country, according to the Johns Hopkins University.
In this context, DeSantis was criticized for organize lifting restrictions earlier than most other districts, and has consistently opposed mandatory mask mandates.
He didn’t stop there: he banned vaccine passports (even before they were real) and blocked covid-19 vaccine requirements from private employers, trying to distinguish himself from “lockdown governors”, under the guise of protecting the individual rights and freedoms.
DeSantis has also delved deep into the curriculum wars in schools, a core issue for Republicans.
Florida’s education commissioner announced in early April that the 41% of the books submitted math textbooks were being rejected because DeSantis claimed they included “indoctrinating concepts like racial essentialism.”
These measures could amount to censorship and lead to the marginalization of some of the most vulnerable children struggling with identity issues, but Florida’s governor has repeatedly said his goal is to protect children.
In this context, the Florida legislature gave final approval to a series of bills aimed at Disney in April, after weeks of dispute between the company and DeSantis over a new law that limits certain classroom discussions about sexual orientation and gender identity.
One of the bills would remove the unique status that allows Disney to operate as an independent government at its Orlando-area theme parks. The other would remove a Disney exemption provided for in a social media bill that was signed into law last year but was put on hold by a federal judge’s decision.
DeSantis on himself
During Monday’s debate with Crist, DeSantis readily defended his other actions that have drawn frequent criticism and lawsuits from Democrats, immigrant groups, LGBTQ groups and their allies, but also generated broad appeal to the GOP base. in Florida and beyond.
On new state rules preventing certain transgender health care for minors, DeSantis compared “gender-affirming care” to “chemically castrating young children,” adding, “A lot of kids go through a lot of different things. Much of the dysphoria resolves on its own by the time they become adults.”
Of the flights he orchestrated to move migrants from San Antonio, Texas, to Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts, he said: “It’s sad that it’s come to this, but what we did was put this issue front and center.”
On banning critical race theory from the classroom, DeSantis said, “I don’t want to teach kids to hate our country. I don’t want to teach kids to hate each other and the way to stop race discrimination is to stop race discrimination.”
In a comment that seemed aimed at much of DeSantis’ defense on these issues, Crist said, “He talks about it like it’s funny. He is not. These are difficult issues and deserve mature leadership.”
The latest surveys indicate that The Republican has an approval rating of more than 50% in his state, with about 43% negative image, with an advantage of 8 percentage points on the Democrat Crist in voting intention. A situation, according to analysts, enviable for any governor who has had to go through the pandemic.
With information from Steve Contorno, Maeve Reston, Zachary B. Wolf, Dianne Gallagher, Rachel Janfaza, and Harry Enten.
