Florida first lady Casey DeSantis took the stage in a barn full of women and mothers in Johnston, Iowa, joining Gov. Kim Reynolds (R-IA) for the launch of Mamas for DeSantis. The event marked the movement’s transition to the national stage after its success during Gov. Ron DeSantis’s (R-FL) reelection campaign for governor in 2022.
The coalition’s launch was the first solo 2024 campaign appearance by Casey as she steps into a higher-profile role.
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Casey, 43, graduated from the University of Charleston in South Carolina before getting a job as a television host and moving to Florida, where she met her eventual husband. She is also a breast cancer survivor, announcing her remission in 2022, less than a year after her diagnosis in the fall of 2021.
The DeSantis campaign is hoping that Casey’s broad appeal to women as a whole, mothers of young children, and those affected by cancer will supplement the governor’s support, especially as several other candidates lack the presence of a supportive spouse and young family on the trail.
Not everyone is convinced that Casey’s prominence will be enough to put DeSantis on equal footing with former President Donald Trump, who currently leads the pack of primary candidates.
“Well, they have to try something,” Republican political strategist John Feheery said. “I’m not sure if having Casey out there is going to help him break through.”
According to him, a challenge to Trump might not be viable without competing with the constant barrage of media surrounding him. “It just seems like every news story surrounds Trump and his legal troubles, which ironically tends to help him with Republican voters,” he said.
On the role of a candidate’s spouse and family and just how measurably effective it could be, Feheery expressed doubt. He recalled that drawing attention to former President Bill Clinton’s spouse, Hillary Clinton, when he ran for president in 1992 and 1996 failed to take him down. “Bill Clinton still won pretty easily. So you know, ultimately, it’s not the spouse. It’s the candidate who either connects with voters or doesn’t connect with voters,” he said.
Fellow Republican strategist Susan Del Percio agreed in part that Casey won’t be the factor to boost DeSantis against Trump. “Right now, it will not be something that puts him over the edge because they’re nowhere close to getting there,” she said, alluding to Trump’s double-digit lead over every candidate in current polls.
She noted that mothers are a “strong coalition” for candidates but added, “It’s going to take more than the family members to move a candidate even closer to closing the lead with Trump. The first step is the candidates have to define themselves, and they have to go after Trump.”
According to Del Percio, “it certainly could play well in the primary with more conservative women. But again, there’s also backlash to putting together some of these groups, and that’s, come your general election, a lot of the groups that are ultraconservative push sometimes candidates too much to the right, and they don’t become viable in a general election.”
Another GOP strategist, Ron Bonjean, explained that Casey’s front-and-center role in her husband’s campaign will only help the governor. “It’s going to be up to DeSantis himself to convince more Trump voters to support his candidacy,” he said. But, he added, “Having a politically savvy spouse with a strong family presence can only help him.”
“A campaign that takes advantage of a presidential candidate’s strong stable family can only help to shape and soften his image, especially if voters haven’t really absorbed much about that person on a national level,” said BonJean. “This can especially be attractive to evangelical voters who may want to switch their voters who want to support a more family-friendly candidate this time around.“
DeSantis is looking to do exactly that. According to sources with knowledge of the DeSantis team’s strategy, the campaign is aiming to position the governor as the parents’ candidate over any of his competitors.
While some strategists are skeptical of just how effective the presence of a mother and young children will be on the campaign trail, Co-Founder of Moms for Liberty Tiffany Justice suggested it may be different this time around.
In an interview with the Washington Examiner, Justice said that mothers are going to play “a huge role” in 2024. She explained that, at this point in time, “women are finding their voice in America, and we’re very concerned about our children and the future of this country.”
“No one is going to fight for anything like a mother will fight to defend, to protect their child,” she said.
Casey’s solo debut in Iowa featured a conversational tone as she sat next to Reynolds while donning camouflage pants and a white “Mamas for DeSantis” T-shirt.
During the event, she told stories about her three children with DeSantis, Madison, Mason, and Mamie, who are all under six years old.
She further echoed her husband’s stances on parental rights, calling out “pornography” in schools. “It’s one thing when your policies come after us, as mamas,” she told attendees. “It’s another thing when your policies come after our children. That’s when the claws come out.”
Notably, expanding the rights of parents has been a priority for DeSantis’s administration in Florida. Specifically, DeSantis has taken on schools for featuring inappropriate and graphic sexual content in classrooms and libraries. The governor has also been engaged in a lengthy feud with the Walt Disney Company ever since the popular company attempted pressuring the government not to support legislation aimed at keeping inappropriate content out of schools. The bill, which has since been signed into law, was nicknamed “Don’t Say Gay” by some politicians and publications because it prohibits instruction on gender identity and sexual orientation through third grade.
“I believe that grandmamas and mamas are going to be the game-changer of this election,” Casey said.
Florida’s first lady also explained why her husband is the man for the job. She said it is vital to defend both “the innocence of our children” as well as “the rights of parents.”
“I can tell you with what Gov. DeSantis has done, he will lead the charge, and he will clean house, and he will ensure that parents have the rights to be able to make the decisions that they think best for their family,” she said.
In a statement to the Washington Examiner, DeSantis campaign spokesman Andrew Romeo said, “Like most working parents in this country, the governor and the first lady are disturbed by the harm Joe Biden’s leftist policies have caused children in our country. In Florida, Gov. DeSantis delivered the most pro-parent agenda in the country. He is running for president to do the same for all of America, and he will never compromise in the fight to protect the innocence of children and defend parents’ rights.”
Talking to the Washington Examiner ahead of the event, Iowa Federation of Republican Women Barbara Hames-Bryant laughed, saying she calls Gov. DeSantis “Mr. Casey DeSantis” because of her integral role.
According to her, some Republican women have shared their identification with Casey, her family, and her story. “It’s always great when you see somebody like yourself,” Hames-Bryant said. “And you’ve got here a mom with little kids and a busy political/social life. And besides the fact that she’s beautiful and attractive and nice to everybody.”
“It’s always nice to have Casey DeSantis out there because she’s very attractive and well spoken and articulate, has a great message, but that’s not why Ron DeSantis would win or lose,” Feheery explained. He further suggested that DeSantis is trying to run as a “more conservative version of Trump,” but, according to him, voters are content with how conservative Trump is.
Del Percio emphasized the importance of coalitions like Mamas for DeSantis but said it needs to be coupled with other coalitions. “It is important, those type of coalitions, women coalitions and also … showing a young, vibrant family is certainly a positive, especially when DeSantis’s message is about the future for the most part.”
She noted that Casey’s involvement in leading the mother coalition is somewhat unique to his candidacy. “It does stand in stark difference from Donald Trump. And I think that’s the reason why they’re looking to use it. And if you want to be the alternative to Trump, which is hard to do when Trump’s still in the race, this is one way to show it,” she added.
In a statement to the Washington Examiner, spokeswoman Jess Szymanski for pro-DeSantis super PAC Never Back Down said, “As a father to young children, Gov. Ron DeSantis knows what’s at stake in the battle between the woke left and American families. He has stood up for American families in the face of the woke left onslaught that they face from corporations, school boards, and Hollywood. Gov. DeSantis’s fight to protect American families and our kids from dangerous woke ideology is resonating across the country because voters know he doesn’t just talk the talk – he takes action. Compared to 77-year-old Donald Trump or 80-year-old Joe Biden, who have not taken on these fights or even recognized them, Gov. DeSantis’s brand of energetic conservatism is what voters want in the White House.”
Despite Casey’s value to the campaign, it has not been demonstrated that the absence of spouses and families from several other campaigns has been a net negative thus far.
Del Percio explained, “I don’t think Melania Trump not being on the campaign trail affects the base at all. They’re used to almost not seeing her.” She also pointed out safety concerns that are involved with campaigning. Overall, she said it’s a “very personal choice that each each candidate has to make with their family.”
Even Justice of Moms for Liberty was understanding of candidates’ families who are more hands off. “This spotlight is not for everyone,” she said.
“I just think it’s a breath of fresh air for us to see young families wanting to be engaged and involved in politics,” she said. “I know the toll that it takes on a family.”
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“When you bring your family with you, you open up there, you open up yourself in a different way, you make yourself more vulnerable. It’s just the truth. And so I think that I think the American people I think they appreciate the vulnerability and the realness,” Justice said.
DeSantis is second in a Morning Consult poll of potential Republican primary voters, with 19%, while Trump boasts 57%.
