What went wrong for Ron DeSantis’ campaign?

As the end of the year rapidly approaches, so too does the Iowa Republican primary caucus, set for Jan. 15. Heading into the election, it would appear that no candidate is or will be within striking distance to unseat Donald Trump as the frontrunner.

The list of candidates trailing Trump includes his former supporter, Gov. Ron DeSantis, who remains a long shot for the nomination after at one time being pinned as the future of the GOP. Perhaps no other candidate’s reputation stands to lose more from a failed presidential bid than DeSantis.

So how did DeSantis go from being “DeFuture” to DeFailure, and why is the Florida taxpayer footing the bill for his political ambitions?

It doesn’t take a scientist to dissect what went wrong for DeSantis. His failure can be largely traced back to the start of his incessant focus on “woke politics” and his feud with Disney when the company spoke out against his signing of Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” bill.

Instead of proposing solutions to nationwide issues or providing blueprints for a DeSantis presidency, the governor made it a personal mission to punish Disney for exercising its free speech rights by replacing the longtime Reedy Creek Improvement District (RCID) with the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District (CFTOD).

For the uninitiated, the RCID was a special district created by the state in 1967 to support and administer certain aspects of the economic development within its boundaries, which now comprises the Disney World campus. Its replacement, the CFTOD, is largely a carbon copy, but with one glaring difference: It is composed of DeSantis cronies and sycophants.

Making matters worse, the salaries of the new administrators within the CFTOD have increased from their RCID counterparts — solely at the taxpayer expense — with the justification being that administrators must be compensated for having to manage the lawsuit with Disney. Given that the lawsuit is entirely due to DeSantis’ own actions, it’s a bad look for the governor.

This blatant transfer of taxpayer money to DeSantis’ allies is just the kind of corruption that his base so abhors in the opposition. The hypocrisy stinks to high heaven, and the smell has seeped into his presidential campaign.

The war against Disney quickly gained the governor massive media attention — with much of it negative, and no matter how hard he tries to distance himself from it, this controversy will forever mark his campaign and governorship.

By attacking Florida’s largest singlesite employer and taxpayer for protected political speech, DeSantis invited litigation from Disney which rages on. Even when the case continued to escalate prior to DeSantis joining the 2024 presidential race, and even when members of his own party criticized his conduct, DeSantis threw caution to the wind and instead promised to double down on punishing Disney through government force, blatantly weaponizing political power to punish opposing views and free speech. This focus on Disney and on his presidential campaign has left him as an absentee governor, something even Trump has called him out on.

Not only is the Florida taxpayer footing the bill for the inflated salaries of DeSantis “yes-men” with the CFTOD, they are also paying the massive legal bills of the lawyers litigating the case with Disney on behalf of Florida. To no one’s surprise, these lawyers also have connections with DeSantis. It’s a jolly good time to be a DeSantis-connected lawyer. The CFTOD has currently budgeted $4.5 million for legal expenses for its battle with Disney, on top of the $2 million that has already been spent in the matter.

So, if the Florida taxpayer is paying more for the CFTOD than the RCID, it must be well-run and competent, right? Wrong.

Since the DeSantis takeover, more than 30 employees with a combined 350 years of experience have voluntarily quit. Those leaving have cited cronyism, incompetent leadership, toxic work environment and a litany of other unflattering reports. Half of the senior leadership team left on their own volition. Add to that the firings of other senior level employees who were hired by the former RCID and the picture becomes clear: Either get on board with DeSantis, or get out.

After getting the Legislature to change Florida law to allow him to run while retaining his position as governor, DeSantis’ continued failure on the campaign trail has impacted nobody more than his constituents. From taking over Florida universities that don’t suit his ideology to attacking the most economically impactful company in his state, everything DeSantis has done to further his national appeal has hurt one group of people — Floridians.

DeSantis should listen to his own party and go back to doing what he was elected to do: Govern the great state of Florida. No one elected him governor so he could use taxpayer dollars to punish the “woke mob” or put on political stunts, and no one wants to see him do it as president either.