FLORIDA – Now that Governor Ron DeSantis is off the campaign trail, his focus will no longer be split between running the state and running for president. Local experts weigh in on what’s next for DeSantis.
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News4JAX political analyst Rick Mullaney said he returns from the presidential race to Florida where the legislature is in session and the Republican Party holds a sizable majority.
“As you look to the agenda for this session and the next three sessions, he’s going to try to build that Florida story for potentially what it may mean for his future,” Mullaney said.
DeSantis continues facing political headwinds in his own state over topics like transgender rights and how black history is taught in Florida schools.
One of his most outspoken critics has been Bishop Rudolph McKissick of the Bethel Church in Jacksonville.
“I think Florida has to turn around,” McKissick said. “I think we have to get away from the culture wars and get back to being for the people.”
McKissick said DeSantis’ embracing of culture war issues like fighting DEI, trans-related issues, and others has been divisive.
“I‘m not sure that’s who he is because I don’t know him personally. I think that is the political hill he decided to battle on,” McKissick said.
There’s also the question of what DeSantis does in the long run he told a voter he has no interest in being vice president but A.G. Gancarski with Florida Politics said he could see DeSantis maybe being picked for a cabinet position if Trump were elected President.
“I don’t think he loses a lot in terms of getting things done,” Gancarski said. “If anything, it might look more like a Rick Scott, Jeb Bush model where you have a governor who has to work a little harder to keep the legislature in line.”
The previous Governor Rick Scott ran for Senate when he term-limited out. The only opening in the next few years in Florida would be Marco Rubio’s seat. Rubio is also a Republican and political analysts said they don’t expect he would challenge Rubio.