After a rather disappointing result in this year’s midterm elections, many conservatives are looking to Florida and its governor as the template to success.
Gov. Ron DeSantis hailed the crushing GOP victories in Florida, claiming that his approach in the Sunshine State should be the “blueprint” of the party going forward.
According to Just the News, DeSantis addressed the Party’s future during a news conference where he lauded Republican performances in Florida but pointed out the party’s shortcomings nationally.
“It was a hugely underwhelming, disappointing performance, especially given that Biden’s policies are overwhelmingly unpopular [and] people think the country is going in the wrong direction,” DeSantis said.
“The one place I think that people can look to as the blueprint is Florida.”
DeSantis’s success has shot him up the list for many conservatives when it comes to potential presidential candidates, with former President Trump taking preemptive potshots at his potential rival.
In the news conference, DeSantis dismissed Trump’s comments, calling it “noise.”
[embedded content]
“When you’re doing, when you’re leading, when you’re getting things done, you take incoming fire. That’s just the nature of it,” the governor said.
Do you think that DeSantis is presidential material?
Yes: 83% (20 Votes)
No: 17% (4 Votes)
On election night, DeSantis lauded his crushing victory as a paradigm shift in Florida politics. “We not only won the election, we have rewritten the political map. … Today after four years the people have delivered their verdict. Freedom is here to stay,” he said, according to CNN.
Along with DeSantis’s re-election, Florida Republicans made substantial gains down-ballot, flipping former Democrat strongholds like Miami-Dade, Osceola and Palm Beach.
They also now hold a supermajority in the state legislature, Just the News reported.
These results go against the GOP’s national performance, in which Republicans barely gained a majority in the House and will be without a majority in the Senate by a narrow margin.
What made DeSantis’s total conquest of a once-purple state possible?
According to the BBC, it started with his response to the COVID pandemic.
His stance against lockdowns, mask mandates and forced vaccines struck a chord with many voters.
“Florida and Miami are an open and free city and state,” said Kaitlin Cope, a Florida resident who left New York during the pandemic.
Latino voters in places like Miami swung heavily for the incumbent, with one explaining that Latinos are “tired of having received promises never fulfilled by the Democratic Party.”
DeSantis has also been commended for his disaster relief efforts during and after Hurricane Ian and his stance against teaching sexual identity to young students.
He has also scored major points with the conservative base by signing a 15-week abortion ban in the state, along with sending illegal migrants to major Democrat cities up north.
As is evident by DeSantis’s overwhelming victory, his conservative agenda has galvanized the state and has taken it off the map as a swing state.
Now Republicans are wondering what the future holds for the Florida governor.
