DeSantis gears up for governorship
With the recount over, governor-elect focused on January transition
TALLAHASSEE — Even as the recount in his race dragged on, Governor-elect Ron DeSantis was staffing up for the transition and aiming to fill high-ranking roles in his new administration.
The preparation for DeSantis’s swearing-in on Jan. 8 comes after a raucous campaign in which he faced charges of racism and leveled charges of socialism and extremism at his Democratic opponent, Andrew Gillum. But since Election Day, DeSantis has largely struck a softer tone.
“[DeSantis], unlike others, kept his head down during all of the near hysteria during the recount about voter fraud,” said Mac Stipanovich, a GOP consultant and former chief of staff to Republican Gov. Bob Martinez. “He appears to have just put his head down and got on with it. Which I think is very much to his credit.”
It’s a shift that will help him tackle his two biggest tasks as he prepares to govern a state of 21 million people: filling positions in state government, starting with his executive office team, and striking up a working relationship with the Legislature, which will have a great say in how much of his agenda will come to fruition.
A spokesman for DeSantis did not answer emailed questions for this story by deadline, but his transition team set up a website Monday, with applications available for prospective candidates for government positions.
DeSantis, 40, is a former threeterm congressman from Marineland more familiar with federal issues on Capitol Hill than the nuts and bolts of state government. He won the GOP primary thanks largely to President Donald Trump’s endorsement before boning up on state-centered issues during the general election campaign.
So far, DeSantis’ transition team hires, a group of ex-Tallahassee denizens well-versed in the politi-
cal arts, have signaled a desire to work with lawmakers and push his agenda through the House and Senate.
Former House Speaker Richard Corcoran; U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz, a former state representative; former U.S. Sen. George LeMieux, who was chief of staff to Gov. Charlie Crist; and Toni Jennings, a former Lieutenant Governor to Gov. Jeb Bush and a former Senate President, have all been named as DeSantis transition team chairs.
“Gov.-elect DeSantis is a very intelligent guy with the ability to combine detailed academic analysis of policy with an understanding of how to get things done politically,” said Nick Iarossi, a well-connected lobbyist who helped fundraise for DeSantis’ campaign.
After a bitter election season and a narrow victory, though, Democrats aren’t as optimistic about working with DeSantis, who bashed Gillum as a “socialist” whose radical ideas would ruin Florida’s economy. Trump followed up by saying Gillum would turn Florida into Venezuela, a country rife with astronomical inflation and rampant starvation.
“He campaigned as baby Trump,” said Rep. Carlos Guillermo Smith, D-Orlando. “DeSantis doesn’t have a mandate; he was elected by the skin of his teeth.”
Smith added that DeSantis’ transition team smacks of keeping the status quo, rather than addressing the state’s issues.
“We have an affordable housing crisis, a gun violence crisis, an opioid crisis, an algae crisis, a public school funding crisis and if DeSantis is going to figure out how to solve Florida’s problems, it’s not going to be on ‘Fox & Friends,’” Smith said.
But with Republicans in comfortable control of both chambers of the Legislature, it’s GOP lawmakers that will determine the fate of DeSantis’ agenda.
And Republican lawmakers have backed his early moves, especially his first one in picking Jeanette Nuñez, a former state representative from Miami, as Lieutenant Governor.
“She’s got great relationships in the Legislature and has been involved in some of the most significant issues that we’ve addressed over the last several years, including hurricane preparedness,” said Rep. Chris Sprowls, RPalm Harbor, in line to become House Speaker in 2020. “It’s evidence that it’s going to be a smooth transition.”
Despite being new to Tallahassee, GOP lawmakers say DeSantis’ experience in Congress will help him understand the importance of the Legislature’s role and get off to a good start – or at least avoid a bad start like Gov. Rick Scott experienced.
Scott sold state planes without telling the Legislature, then got sued by two lawmakers — one Democrat and one Republican — when he quashed a deal to bring high-speed rail to Florida in the first month of his campaign.
“You would expect [DeSantis] to make fewer mistakes and for his learning curve to not to be as steep as Rick Scott’s was,” Stipanovich said. “That doesn’t mean he won’t make mistakes and he won’t get his pocket picked by his Republican friends in the Legislature and learn from that experience. But it will be much less painful and much less harmful than it would otherwise be.”