Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is campaigning for various Republican candidates throughout the nation who won their primaries after being backed by Donald Trump.
The popular Republican politician earned a reputation for himself among conservatives by opposing the Biden administration’s COVID-19 rules and his Parental Rights in Education law, which detractors called “Don’t Say Gay.”
Now, he’s putting that power to the test in critical battleground states including Ohio, Arizona, New Mexico, and Pennsylvania, via a series of events organized by Turning Point Action called ‘Unite and Win.’
It adds to rumors that DeSantis is considering a run for President in the future, as many early GOP voter surveys show him close to, if not ahead of, the former president as the favored 2024 candidate.
And, with the exception of one state, DeSantis will campaign alongside Republicans who won difficult primaries owing, in part, to Trump’s backing.
In Arizona, DeSantis will campaign with GOP Senate candidate Blake Masters and gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake on August 14. Both had primaries last Tuesday, but Lake was only declared the winner on Friday after a challenge by a Republican businesswoman supported by former Vice President Mike Pence.
On August 19, DeSantis will go to Pennsylvania and Ohio to meet with GOP gubernatorial candidates Doug Mastriano and Senate candidate J.D. Vance, respectively.
The governor of Florida is also visiting a state where Trump has yet to step foot this year, despite several other public engagements throughout the nation as he teases a possible 2024 presidential run.
Republican Rep. Yvette Herrell of New Mexico, who is running for re-election, and gubernatorial candidate Mark Ronchetti will benefit from DeSantis’ visit to their state on August 14.
Trump has kept mute on New Mexico’s 2022 elections, despite receiving federal and state support in states such as Arizona and Pennsylvania.
The four rallies seem to be DeSantis’ first visits outside of Florida in the 2022 midterm election season, despite his personal engagements at conservative gatherings in Texas and New York this year.
In a statement accompanying the news release on Monday, Turning Point Action founder Charlie Kirk praised the governor as “a model” for the Republican Party’s future.
‘Gov. DeSantis is America’s Governor and one of the country’s most popular leaders,’ Kirk added.
‘He has become the paradigm for a new conservative movement prepared to stand on principle and fight for the ideals of his constituents.’
DeSantis, according to Kirk, has a “rare capacity to rally conservatives” behind candidates in challenging districts.
After winning his own governor’s campaign with Trump’s backing in 2018, DeSantis’ national popularity among Republicans has some election observers wondering whether a heated primary contest between the two may occur in 2024.
Neither has publicly declared their desire to run.
DeSantis has not ruled out a presidential run, but has repeatedly said that he is focused on his re-election campaign in Florida this year.
Trump, on the other hand, has made many indications that he may run for president a third time.
He told New York Magazine last month that he’s already made up his mind and is simply debating whether to announce it before or after the November midterm elections.
The ex-president easily won a straw poll held at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Texas on Saturday, while DeSantis triumphed even without Trump.
Almost seven in ten guests questioned felt Trump should be the Republican candidate in 2024, while 24 percent said DeSantis should come first.
When Trump was not an option, DeSantis received 65 percent of the vote, with Donald Trump Jr. coming in second with 8 percent.
Early voter straw polls in Florida, Wisconsin, and New Hampshire – where the first presidential primary has been conducted for almost a century – showed DeSantis ahead of Trump.