


Ahead of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’s trip to Iowa this weekend, 37 state legislatures have come out to endorse him — representing over a third of the combined number of Republican lawmakers in the state’s house and senate.
This reinforces my argument from the other day, which is that it is insanely premature to write off DeSantis before he has announced anything, before we learn what his team has been planning, and before we have any idea of how he is resonating as a declared candidate.
Obvious caveats apply. Endorsements do not necessarily translate into victories, and a victory in Iowa would not necessarily translate into being nominated. In fact, not since 2000 has the Republican winner of the Iowa caucus in a contested cycle actually gone on to be the eventual nominee. In 2016, you may recall, Senator Ted Cruz won, and Trump claimed the election was stolen and demanded a revote, or else the results be nullified.
Regardless of how it turns out this year, the huge show of support is not what you’d expect to see for a candidate whose campaign is flailing, which is how much of the political press corps is treating DeSantis.
List of DeSantis endorsements below, via the pro-DeSantis PAC Never Back Down: