Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) is reportedly set to launch a presidential campaign next week, setting up what will likely be a fierce competition with former President Donald Trump for the GOP nomination next year.
DeSantis will file paperwork with the Federal Election Commission as he meets with GOP donors in Miami next week, sources familiar with the campaign first confirmed to the Wall Street Journal. The governor will launch the campaign in his hometown of Dunedin, Florida, after Memorial Day, per the Washington Post.
WHAT THE GOP WORK REQUIREMENT PROPOSAL WOULD REALLY DO
A spokesperson with DeSantis declined to comment to the Washington Examiner on the governor's campaign plans.
DeSantis has steadily built up a campaign apparatus over the past months, traveling to early nominating states such as Iowa and New Hampshire to meet with potential primary voters. A pro-DeSantis super PAC, Never Back Down, has come to the governor's aid with a multimillion ad buy championing DeSantis's conservative credentials in Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada, and South Carolina — the early-voting states.
Most polling shows DeSantis is Trump's closest competitor in the ever-growing GOP 2024 race, far ahead of other potential candidates such as Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC), who is also set to jump into the 2024 race next week, and former Vice President Mike Pence. A GOP polling firm shared with the Washington Examiner last month that around one-quarter of GOP primary voters would like a presidential candidate who is not Trump.
An Iowa stop over the weekend gave DeSantis the prime opportunity to make an appeal to evangelical voters as Trump was forced to cancel his own Iowa rally due to inclement weather. "At the end of the day, governing is not about entertaining. Governing is not about building a brand or talking on social media and virtue signaling. It's ultimately about winning and about producing results," DeSantis told a full crowd of attendees at a fundraiser in Sioux Center, Iowa.
Several GOP voters told the Washington Examiner afterward that it was time for the GOP to move beyond Trump, citing electability as one reason for wanting another candidate. Supporters of DeSantis point to the Iowa barnstorm as just one example of why DeSantis can overcome Trump's consistent attacks against the governor, which have helped to somewhat drag down his poll numbers.
On Tuesday, Never Back Down rolled out a list of 51 New Hampshire legislators who are endorsing DeSantis. Four of those legislators, state Reps. Juliet Harvey-Bolia, Brian Cole, Lisa Smart, and Debra DeSimone, previously endorsed Trump but switched allegiance to DeSantis or are backing both men. Last week another 37 Iowa lawmakers endorsed DeSantis ahead of his Iowa trip, showing that DeSantis could build the momentum needed to triumph over Trump. DeSantis also has the endorsement of 99 lawmakers in the Sunshine State legislature, but Trump embarrassed DeSantis last month when several Florida congressional members not only endorsed the former president but then flew to Mar-a-Lago to have dinner with Trump.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
The proxy war between Trump and the governor will only heat up in the aftermath of DeSantis joining the 2024 fray.
The former president has spent this week attacking DeSantis with derisive nicknames, claiming that he is responsible for the overturning of Roe v. Wade and excoriating DeSantis for his endorsed candidates losing races in Kentucky and Florida. With a war chest of at least $110 million in fundraising committees, DeSantis will be a formidable foe that Trump will not hesitate to pummel.