Run, Ron, run! DeSantis leads a strong GOP bench for 2024
New York PostNov 10, 2022
With 99% of expected votes counted as of Wednesday evening, Florida's incumbent governor, Republican Ron DeSantis, was re-elected by a 19.4-point margin over his Democratic challenger Charlie Crist in Tuesday's midterms.
Crist, who served as Florida's 44th Governor from 2007 to 2011 as a Republican, gave a concession speech while surrounded by his family at around 8:30 pm on Tuesday.
DeSantis' policies reflect American principles and must serve as a model for the entire nation. Turning Florida into a refuge of sanity by fighting authoritarianism and "wokeism" has seen him consolidate support and ensure this historic result. This new mandate positions DeSantis as a strong contender for 2024, especially considering the fate of Trump's candidates in the midterm elections.
DeSantis's policies during his first governorship should be enough to provoke a major backlash, but Democrats have allowed his re-election by failing to invest in Crist's campaign. Democrats should have done more to target DeSantis and highlight the issues in Florida that he has failed to address — now the new governor will be emboldened to carry out further controversial policies and possibly even run for GOP presidential nomination.
DeSantis has performed impressively, but Donald Trump should not be counted out of the 2024 presidential election just yet. Only a fraction of the party faithful that publicly supported Trump through these midterms has peeled off, and his ability to raise campaign funding remains strong. Although DeSantis looks like a convincing presidential nominee, he is yet to prove his appeal beyond the state of Florida — could current commentary be yet another premature declaration of Trump's demise?
There's a 36% chance that Ron DeSantis will be the Republican nominee for the 2024 US Presidential Election, according to the Metaculus prediction community.