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Republican Ron DeSantis was projected to coast to a second term as governor of Florida Tuesday night, easily besting Democrat Charlie Crist in a rout that will likely amplify growing talk about a 2024 White House run.
DeSantis, 44, a former congressman and U.S. Navy veteran of the war in Iraq, never trailed in polls, holding a lead that reached double digits in early October following his acclaimed handling of Hurricane Ian and its aftermath. DeSantis, who in his first term became one of the nation’s most high-profile governors, was secure enough in the Sunshine State and in demand enough in others that he spent much of the weeks leading up to the election campaigning for fellow Republicans around the nation.
“I can come up with probably 20 reasons why DeSantis wins,” Brad Coker, CEO and managing director of the Mason-Dixon Polling and Strategy firm, told The Tampa Bay Times last month.
The early call was indicative of a large victory margin, and affirmation of DeSantis’ bareknuckle style following a first-term, narrow win over Andrew Gillum four years ago. DeSantis, who famously kept his state’s economy and public schools open while others closed during the COVID pandemic, sparred frequently with the media, both directly and through his no-holds-barred media team. His national stature was further elevated when he brought attention to President Joe Biden’s porous border policies by flying illegal immigrants to Martha’s Vineyard, making the island elites deal first-hand with a problem plaguing Florida and other states.
The Yale and Harvard Law-educated governor’s leadership was on full display as Hurricane Ian bore down on Florida’s Gulf Coast in the final days of September.
