TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — All eyes shall be on Florida Tuesday as Governor Ron DeSantis swears in for his second time period to guide the sunshine state.
“It takes on an extra edge this year because, obviously, DeSantis has already been talked about as a potential candidate for the 2024 presidential race. So everybody’s going to be focused on his message,” defined ABC Action News Political Analyst Susan MacManus.
She added that DeSantis’ earlier diversion from questions of a presidential run may all be half of a technique.
“It was very strategic not to say he was gonna run when he’s still running for governor because that looks like what you’re just gonna leave this office… So he never would take the bait,” she defined.
In 2019, DeSantis gained the state’s high spot by a really small share of votes.
“He won by the narrowest victory ever for a governor four years ago. And in 2022, he won by nearly the largest margin ever in the face of four years. He moved from barely winning election to a blowout,” MacManus mentioned.
How? The reply to that may be discovered within the numbers.
The U.S. Census Bureau just found Florida was the fastest growing state in the country last year, a yr when DeSantis inspired individuals to maneuver to the “free state” amidst pandemic lockdowns.
“Florida has become the escape hatch for those chafing under authoritarian, arbitrary and seemingly never-ending mandates and restrictions,” The Governor mentioned in his State of the State Address on Jan. 11, 2022.
“He’s tied the two together– the growth of the economy, with the sort of opening up of and keeping businesses open during COVID,” MacManus mentioned.
In his run for re-election, DeSantis promised main tax cuts in addition to will increase in instructor pay.
“The economy has been a big feature, traditional Republican approach, lower taxes, less regulation. He was really big about deregulating a lot of things,” MacManus defined, including that it’s also the primary time in fashionable historical past that Republicans management each judicial department within the state of Florida.
But the highway forward for DeSantis is just not free from challenges.
“One of the things that he’s going to face very early on in this new administration is this lingering redistricting court case that challenges that congressional map,” she mentioned.
That in addition to a path ahead with Walt Disney World’s self-governance, as DeSantis continues to name out what he refers to as “woke corporations.”
In addition to the inauguration, First Lady Casey DeSantis will host ‘A Toast to One Million Mamas’ in recognition of the 1.1 million ladies she mobilized to assist her husband.
