More than two years after his presidential dreams died in freezing cold Iowa, Ron DeSantis apparently hasn’t closed the door on a future run for president.
“We’ll see,” DeSantis told Fox News’ Sean Hannity on the Fox News commentator’s new podcast, Hang Out with Sean Hannity, which is scheduled to drop Tuesday.
“I mean, I think that in ’24, like in Iowa, the people that voted for Trump — if he wasn’t running, I would have gotten like 90% of those people,” DeSantis said. “They were conservative voters, right? They didn’t want the non-conservative. They wanted me. But the timing didn’t work out, obviously, for that. So, you just got to see what happens.”
Although it will never be clear whether DeSantis would have won the GOP nomination for president if Trump hadn’t been in the mix, the Florida governor led Trump in several polls in the fall of 2022, following his 19-point re-election victory for governor over Democrat Charlie Crist.
In December 2022, DeSantis led Trump 52%-38% among likely GOP primary voter in a Wall Street Journal poll. A USA Today/Suffolk University poll had DeSantis up 56%-33% in a one-on-one contest.
Capturing the mood at his re-election night in Tampa that fall, New York Post columnist Michael Goodwin wrote at the time that “[c]hants of ‘Two more years’ captured the sense of many at the governor’s victory party that the statehouse is just a stop on the way to the White House.”
However, once the campaign began in earnest in early 2023, and after Trump was indicted in New York City and later found guilty of 34 felony counts in his hush-money trial, Republicans rushed back to support the former (and future) president, and DeSantis was never truly competitive after that.
The governor received just 21.2% of the vote in the Iowa caucus in January 2024, nearly 30 points behind Trump, winning nine delegates. Former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley finished in third place with 19.1%. The New York Times later reported that DeSantis spent $160 million in the race.
Most of the talk of potential Republican candidates for president in 2028 has focused around either Vice President JD Vance or U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, with DeSantis rarely if ever in those conversations. But, at 47, the governor certainly has time to consider what his future will be, as he is staring at being out of a job beginning in early January next year after his eight years in office expires.
Disclaimer
Artificial Intelligence Disclosure & Legal Disclaimer
AI Content Policy.
To provide our readers with timely and comprehensive coverage, South Florida Reporter uses artificial intelligence (AI) to assist in producing certain articles and visual content.
Articles: AI may be used to assist in research, structural drafting, or data analysis. All AI-assisted text is reviewed and edited by our team to ensure accuracy and adherence to our editorial standards.
Images: Any imagery generated or significantly altered by AI is clearly marked with a disclaimer or watermark to distinguish it from traditional photography or editorial illustrations.
General Disclaimer
The information contained in South Florida Reporter is for general information purposes only.
South Florida Reporter assumes no responsibility for errors or omissions in the contents of the Service. In no event shall South Florida Reporter be liable for any special, direct, indirect, consequential, or incidental damages or any damages whatsoever, whether in an action of contract, negligence or other tort, arising out of or in connection with the use of the Service or the contents of the Service.
The Company reserves the right to make additions, deletions, or modifications to the contents of the Service at any time without prior notice. The Company does not warrant that the Service is free of viruses or other harmful components.
