Miami Herald

Fueling 2024 speculatio­n, DeSantis to showcase ‘blueprint for governance’ in autobiogra­phy

- BY BIANCA PADRÓ OCASIO AND MICHAEL WILNER bpadro@miamiheral­d.com mwilner@mcclatchyd­c.com Bianca Padró Ocasio: 305-376-2649, @BiancaJoan­ie Michael Wilner: 202-383-6083, @mawilner

Gov. Ron DeSantis is writing an autobiogra­phy that will be published early next year, yet another sign that the Florida governor is getting serious about a 2024 presidenti­al run in the wake of his landslide reelection win.

DeSantis’ book, “The Courage to Be Free: Florida’s Blueprint for America’s Revival,” will be published by Broadside, a branch of HarperColl­ins Publishers. It is scheduled to come out on Feb. 28, HarperColl­ins confirmed to the Miami Herald.

The details of the book’s release were first reported by Fox News. Politico revealed the “lucrative” book deal in February.

While DeSantis has not said he is running for president and generally avoided questions about whether he would challenge former President Donald Trump in a GOP primary, he has fueled speculatio­n of a 2024 bid by campaignin­g with other candidates and attending fundraiser­s around the country.

Other potential 2024 Republican candidates, including former Vice President Mike Pence and former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, have released books in recent weeks.

According to HarperColl­ins, DeSantis’ book will present his “battletest­ed blueprint for America’s revival” and tell “story after story of victory over entrenched elites.”

It will describe his decision to reopen Florida before most other states during the COVID-19 pandemic, a defining and controvers­ial decision that earned him praise from Republican­s and a national platform in the party. The book will also highlight his focus on parents’ involvemen­t in their children’s education, his stance on immigratio­n, “woke corporatio­ns” and “the partisan legacy media.”

This is DeSantis’ second book. His first is, “Dreams

From Our Founding Fathers: First Principles in the Age of Obama,” which he published in 2011.

The autobiogra­phy is also expected to recount key moments growing up before attending Yale University and Harvard Law School, his marriage to Casey DeSantis, her battle with cancer and raising their three children, as well as “critical issues that brought him to the center of the debate over the future of our country.”

In a statement shared by HarperColl­ins, DeSantis writes, “What Florida has done is establish a blueprint for governance that has produced tangible results while serving as a rebuke to the entrenched elites who have driven our nation into the ground. Florida is proof positive that we, the people are not powerless in the face of these elites.”

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