DeSantis to argue U.S. should be like Florida
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Gov. Ron DeSantis is poised to position himself on Tuesday as a champion of conservative causes during a State of the State address that will likely be as much about his national ambitions as it is an assessment of Florida's response to the pandemic and a series of crippling storms.
The address comes at the outset of a 60-day legislative session that has added significance this year because it will likely be used to launch DeSantis into a highly anticipated presidential campaign.
The Republican-dominated Legislature, eager to promote DeSantis' political prospects, is expected to sign off on virtually all of the governor's agenda, which is packed with issues ranging from race to immigration to gender that could prove popular in a GOP presidential primary.
Instead of focusing on rising rents and cost of living, a property insurance market that's in distress and preparing for rising sea levels in a state vulnerable to climate change, DeSantis will kick off a session where the GOP will push issues like telling teachers which pronouns they can use for students, making guns more available to Floridians, keeping immigrants that are in the country illegally out of the state, and criminalizing some drag shows as Tennessee recently did.
Though DeSantis is unlikely to formally announce a presidential campaign before the Legislature wraps up its work in May, he's already making big moves toward a White House bid. He participated in a high-profile donor retreat last week in Florida before traveling to California, where he delivered a broadside against what he argued were excesses of liberalism. Later this week, he'll travel for the first time this year to Iowa, which will host the nation's first Republican presidential caucus in 2024.
Even without an official campaign in place, DeSantis is emerging as a leading alternative to former President Donald Trump, a fellow Floridian who has already announced his third White House bid. DeSantis' strength is fueled in part by commanding a nearly 20 percentage point reelection victory last year in a state that's often infamous for close elections.
He's done so by limiting how issues such as race and sexuality can be taught in schools, banning transgender girls and women from school sports, rewriting the state's political maps to favor Republicans and dismantle a congressional district that favored Black voters, attacking private businesses that disagree with his ideology and cracking down on Black Lives Matter protests.
"Our governor is truly America's governor. He has defended our conservative values, challenged the individuals and institutions who pose threats to others, and posed innovative solutions to better our state," Republican state Senate President Kathleen Passidomo said Tuesday.