DeSantis set to enter presidential race: sources
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis plans to enter the 2024 presidential race next week, as the Republican gathers top fundraisers in Miami, according to two people familiar with the plans.
The second-term governor, widely considered to be the most viable GOP challenger to former president Donald Trump, has been laying the groundwork for a campaign for months. In speeches around the country, he has touted his landslide re-election win last year and his sweeping legislative agenda in Florida — passed this spring by GOP supermajorities — and also implicitly pitched himself as a better bet than Trump.
Representatives for DeSantis's political team declined to comment.
DeSantis is also expected to hold an event launching his candidacy in Dunedin, Fla., his hometown, according to one of the people familiar with the plans and another familiar with the kickoff gathering. That event is expected to take place after Memorial Day (May 29), according to the first person.
The people familiar with the plans spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe plans that had not been announced publicly. The Wall Street Journal first reported Wednesday evening that DeSantis plans to enter the race next week.
Doubts about DeSantis's presidential prospects have grown in recent months as Trump has surged in national polls of the GOP race and attacked DeSantis, and as some donors have voiced concerns about the governor's policy moves. But the governor has rebuilt some momentum over the past week, rolling out endorsements from state lawmakers in Iowa, New Hampshire and Florida.
DeSantis's team is convening donors in Miami from May 24 to 26 to start raising money for a presidential campaign, people familiar with the event said. Fundraisers have already been meeting with the governor in small groups in Tallahassee in recent weeks.
A super PAC supporting DeSantis has been running ads and organizing in key states. And DeSantis has travelled to early nominating states including Iowa, where he spoke at several events on Saturday.
“Governing is not about building a brand or talking on social media and virtue signalling,” DeSantis said at a GOP picnic in a rural part of Iowa that went heavily for Trump in 2020. “It's ultimately about winning and about producing results.”