Florida Gov. DeSantis to headline dinner in April, county GOP says
A possible 2024 presidential candidate will be the keynote speaker at Butler County’s annual Lincoln Day Dinner last this spring.
The Butler County Republican Party announced this week that Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis will be the GOP’s special guest on April 13 at the Savannah Center, 5533 Chappel Crossing Blvd., West Chester Twp.
The 44-year-old governor hasn’t formally announced his candidacy, though many expect it’s an inevitable announcement. Right now, there are only three GOP candidates for the 2024 presidential primary. Former president Donald Trump announced his candidacy last November, and former Trump United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley said on Feb. 14 she was running. Cincinnati native Vivek Ramaswamy, a 37-year-old
entrepreneur and author of “Woke, Inc.,” announced his candidacy on Feb. 21.
FiveThirtyEight.com, which tracks political races, said that while Trump leads early primary polling, DeSantis “is currently in the best position to challenge the former president.”
Bestselling author and political activist Marianne Williamson is the only announced Democratic Party candidate, launching her 2024 campaign earlier this month. She unsuccessfully ran in 2020 and was one of the first major candidates to drop out. President Joe Biden is expected to announce a re-election bid, but if he doesn’t run, that would open the Democratic Party field, likely led by Vice President Kamala Harris.
Other Republicans expected to join the race include Mike Pence, former vice president under Trump, and John Bolton, former National Security Advisor under Trump.
By the time the Butler County Lincoln Day Dinner comes along in mid-spring, DeSantis most likely will not have announced his presidential candidacy. The Associated Press reported last month it’s expected the Florida governor will announce his bid sometime in late spring to early summer.
Tickets and tables are not yet available for the Butler County fundraising dinner, but the event is expected to accommodate up to 950.