Did Governor Ron DeSantis ruin his political career in Florida by running for President?

 

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and President Donald Trump. AP. 

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis risks ruining his political career in Florida by running for President according to a Republican running for Congress. Business Insider. Ron DeSantis won his last reelection campaign by 19 points against Democrat Charlie Crist, but may have lost much of that goodwill in Florida. GOP Candidate Alan Pincus, who backed DeSantis in that race, said that if DeSantis loses in the primary against Donald Trump his political career in Florida could fizzle. He also said that DeSantis has no chance of winning against Trump. Polling in the Sunshine state backs that up with DeSantis losing against Trump by 17 points in a head to head matchup, 54% to 17%. 

My Comment:

I have said for awhile that running for President in 2024 was one of the dumbest political moves DeSantis could have made. I think Mr. Pincus is right and DeSantis is done. He's already term limited so he cannot run for Governor again after his term ends. But if he had not run against Trump in 2024 he could have easily picked up another state or national level office. And he would have been a shoe in in 2028 if had simply waited four years. He even had a decent chance of being Trump's VP, or some other high ranking position in his administration, which isn't going to happen now.

I do think many Republicans in Florida have turned against DeSantis even though most agree he's one of the best governors the state has had. Many of them feel that they voted for him for governor, not for him to spend the first half of his term trying to run for President. Most Republicans are loyal to Trump and didn't want anyone to run against him, let alone Ron DeSantis. 

It was always telling that DeSantis launched his campaign on Twitter instead of in his home state. I always thought that if he did he would have been drowned out by protesters who were extremely upset with DeSantis for his perceived betrayal of not only Trump, but the voters who put DeSantis in the office in the first place. 

But does that mean that DeSantis won't have a career after the 2024 race? I guess it depends on what happens. If, God forbid, something happens to Trump where he's unwilling or unable to run, DeSantis still has a slim chance of winning, though even then he might lose out to someone like Vivek Ramaswami. I can't see DeSantis beating Trump on his own merits at this point given how terrible his campaign has been run. 

I could see him winning as a congressman somewhere in the state, but anything bigger than that? There isn't a pathway for him in the Senate because both Rubio and Scott are popular senators that he would be unable to beat in a primary challenge. And he can't run for Governor again (though he could have made that happen if he wanted and still might). I generally think that after DeSantis ends his term he's probably done. Voters won't care about him in 2028 after what happened in 2024. 

All of this is a shame as DeSantis was a good governor. He stood up for his people and turned what was a swing state into a deep red one. There are criticisms of his governorship as well, but as someone in a state controlled by a Democrat governor, I would kill to have him as my governor. Deciding to run in 2024 was a big mistake for him...