It took less than a year for Gov. Ron DeSantis‘s (R-FL) 2024 political fortunes to sour, but the governor has wasted even less time trying to change his luck before 2028.
DeSantis, seemingly unfazed by his campaign and super PAC’s combined $160 million doomed bid against former President Donald Trump, has reemerged from the primary, ready to defend his record in Florida, likely in preparation for the 2028 cycle.
Two weeks after he suspended his campaign following his distant second-place finish behind Trump in Iowa, DeSantis has remained in national news headlines as he criticizes President Joe Biden and the former president, from scrutinizing Biden’s immigration and border policies to the latter’s general election chances in November.
But the governor has also remained prominent in social media feeds with, for example, videos of him and his son, demonstrating a more human side of him that supporters had hoped would have been more apparent as a candidate.
DeSantis has “a lot” of political reputation rehabilitation ahead of him during his last three years as Florida’s governor, a term-limited post, regardless of his future aspirations, according to Republican strategist Susan Del Percio.
“The campaign trail is grueling, so it makes sense that he is a bit more relaxed now that he’s had some time to recharge his batteries,” Del Percio told the Washington Examiner. “On the other hand, he will miss the national attention and probably will seek it by means of legislation or political actions.”
A source close to DeSantis dismissed the idea that the governor required “rehabilitation” and downplayed speculation regarding his next steps, also using the word “relaxed” to describe DeSantis.
“He isn’t on the road for weeks on end anymore doing nonstop events and traveling,” the source said. “He’s in Florida being governor and hasn’t missed a beat when it comes to delivering results.”
But for Del Percio, although DeSantis “probably has his eye on 2028,” “there is a lot of time between now and then and no guarantee that his brand will survive four years.”
Darryl Paulson, University of South Florida government professor emeritus, was similarly skeptical of DeSantis’s future prospects, contending the governor is “back in the saddle” in his state because he “fell off his horse” during the campaign and was “badly injured.”
Paulson continued that throughout his campaign, DeSantis “never figured out the basic challenge” of undermining Trump without angering “Trumpites.”
“DeSantis has expressed interest in running for president in 2028, but his 2024 performance may be a hindrance rather than a help if he decides to run,” he said. “Like many defeated candidates, DeSantis may decide to become a lobbyist or member of corporate boards and become very rich. That may be his best option unless he finds a way to make himself a better communicator with the electorate.”
University of Central Florida politics professor Aubrey Jewett was less pessimistic concerning DeSantis, citing presidential candidates who have “come back” in the past. Rather, Jewett argued DeSantis is amid a shadow campaign, either as “a long-shot replacement” should “something happen” to Trump in 2024 or, “more likely, for 2028.”
“There’ll be some signs that he’s not as powerful as he was in Florida,” he said. “DeSantis there, for a year or two, he just felt, basically anything that he wanted to do, the legislature jumped on and got behind. But that’s just not quite the case anymore. He doesn’t have $100 million and a political action committee to threaten people with anymore. He doesn’t have that reputation for infallibility now he’s actually lost to Trump. And you still have a number of Trump people in Florida, Trump supporters, are still aren’t that keen on DeSantis.”
But simultaneously, Jewett declined to call DeSantis “weak,” only that he has “fallen” from the “pinnacle” of being “one of, if not the most, powerful governor” in the last 20 years.
DeSantis has maintained his national profile, in part, by deploying the Florida State Guard to aid Gov. Greg Abbott (R-TX) with Texas‘s illegal immigrant “invasion.” He has also had some wins in court concerning pro-Palestinian student protests on public university campuses and Disney’s allegations he retaliated against the company for its opposition to his parental rights education law.
He, too, advocated last week for Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) to be denaturalized and deported over an address she delivered in Somali during which she promised to promote her birth country’s interests in Congress.
At the same time, DeSantis’s post-campaign posture has not included kowtowing to Trump, announcing last month he would have vetoed a Florida measure proposing to provide up to $5 million of taxpayer money to the former president for his legal bills.
“When I have people come up to me who voted for [Ronald] Reagan in ’76 and have been conservative their whole life say that they don’t want to vote for Trump again, that’s a problem,” DeSantis told Iowa radio host and endorser Steve Deace in January. “I think there’s an enthusiasm problem overall, and then I also just think there are some voters that have checked out at this point that you got to find a way to get them back.”
During a press conference Monday, DeSantis disregarded the need to “digest and reflect” after his 2024 campaign. Instead, he underscored how he is “right back in the saddle” and “making things happen every single day,” though he was adamant he did “a lot” during his bid as well.
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“You’re not going to see me go on, like, some hibernation where I’m like saying, ‘Oh, woe is me.’ That’s just not how I am,” DeSantis told reporters in Miami. “We’re happy to have been back — I think I was back in the office the next day — and we’ve been putting points on the board ever since.”
“I will say though that being the most active governor in America, we did, we worked very hard, but the difference between doing that versus a presidential campaign where you’re doing 10 interviews a day, going to all these stops on the buses, it is a little bit different,” he said. “I think that this is good. It’s a difference between talking about things and actually doing things, and I’m a doer more than a talker.”
