Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis planning another White House run
Allies say the governor sees an opening politically after voters resoundingly rejected the Trump agenda this week. DeSantis called the elections a “close to an extinction-level event for Republicans.”
Gov. Ron DeSantis is preparing to run for the GOP’s 2028 presidential nomination, according to three people briefed on his plans, after his home state of Florida was one of the few conservative bastions to survive the Democrats’ sweeping midterm victory.
“Florida’s walls not being breached by the blue wave gives DeSantis more credibility than nearly anyone in the opening days of the 2028 primary,” said Dan Eberhart, a longtime Republican donor and energy executive, who served as a surrogate for DeSantis’s unsuccessful 2024 presidential campaign.
Already, DeSantis has reached out to at least one national political consultant about working on his campaign, according to one person close to him, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations. His federal super PAC also sent out a text this week to try to raise money, another step that signaled an intention to run to those who know him.
Allies say the governor sees an opening politically after voters resoundingly rejected the Trump agenda this week. DeSantis called the elections a “close to an extinction-level event for Republicans.”
“It’s the political equivalent of a meteor strike that went all around the United States, blue states, red states, everything in between,” DeSantis said at a news conference in Tallahassee.
His chief of staff in Florida did not respond to a request for comment.
Before Tuesday, Vice President JD Vance seemed like the heir apparent to President Donald Trump’s political fortunes and the front-runner in the nascent 2028 race — an assumption upended by voters’ wholesale rejection of Republicans and the administration’s policies.
From his 2024 bid, DeSantis has learned he will need to do more media appearances if he wants to succeed, said the person close to him. He also learned he cannot wait too long before entering the presidential race; in 2023, he opted to wait until after Florida finished its state legislative session. Those months of anticipation gave the Trump team ample time to define and attack him.
DeSantis took advantage of the Republican losses this week to make several high-profile media appearances, on Fox News and elsewhere, and pitch himself as an alternative to Trumpism.
He has also tried to stand out from the crowded field of Republican politicians on policy decisions on AI, becoming a big opponent of data centers in Florida.
DeSantis’ run for the nomination in 2024 ended with his dropping out shortly before the New Hampshire primary. He came in second in the Iowa caucuses in January 2024, earning 21.3% of the vote, far behind Trump who won more than 50% of the votes.
His 2024 campaign was marked by extensive infighting between the campaign aides and his outside super PAC, staffed by national political consultants. Although he raised huge amounts of money, his teams also overspent. One open question for a 2028 run is whether donors will once again give him money.
