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Who is Ron DeSantis?
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There are a lot of unfamiliar faces running for the 2024 Republican presidential election, but Ron DeSantis is not one of them.
Known as Florida’s current state governor, Ron DeSantis has a high probability to be elected as the Republican candidate for the 2024 presidential election.
Who is Ron DeSantis, how did he get started in politics, what are his policies, and why has he chosen to run for the 2024 presidential election?
Who is Ron DeSantis?
Ron DeSantis is a Republican politician born in Jacksonville, Florida – who has been serving as Florida’s state governor since 2019 and is currently running for the 2024 presidential election.
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Early Life & Education
DeSantis is born-and-raised Floridian – having been born in Jacksonville, living in Orlando until he was six, and then moving to the suburbs of Tampa until relocating to the Northeast to attend college and law school.
Before his political days, Ron DeSantis was an aspiring baseball player – even helping the Dunedin, Florida Little League team qualify to play for the Little World Series Series. DeSantis continued playing baseball at Yale – even serving as a captain for the varsity team. Following his graduation from Yale in 2001 with a degree in history, DeSantis then proceeded to work as a teacher for a preparatory school before continuing his education at Harvard to study law.
Ron DeSantis wasn’t only an aspiring athlete and lawyer, but even served in the U.S. Navy as an officer for the Judge Advocate General’s Corps between 2004 and 2010.
2010 was a big year for Ron DeSantis. After serving his active duty, he married former news anchor Casey Black. The couple now resides in the state’s capital, Tallahassee – in the infamous governor’s mansion with their three children.
Career Beginnings
Ron DeSantis had a unique entry to the political world, having worked as a prosecutor following his active duty with the U.S. Navy. Throughout these experiences, DeSantis began to develop strong political views – eventually inspiring himself to run his own campaign to represent District 6 in Florida, aiming for a seat in the House of Representatives.
Marco Rubio, who previously represented Florida in the U.S. Senate, almost stopped DeSantis in his tracks when he announced his re-election. Ron DeSantis wasn’t confident in his ability to beat him, and eventually withdrew his bid – but he regained media attention when Donald Trump was elected as president in 2016, as DeSantis was an evident and vocal supporter for Trump’s policies.
Despite the roadblocks, DeSantis decided to run for Florida state governor in 2018 – and was officially elected in 2019 and has held the role since.
What has Ron DeSantis done as governor of Florida?
Despite his newfound controversy in the media, Ron DeSantis has been serving his role as Florida state governor with purpose in mind – especially to tackle education and health care.
Even though Florida has the infamous tagline for being the sunshine state, it isn’t the place where “work goes to die” as Ron DeSantis often poetically says.
In fact, Florida has some of the lowest salaries in the nation for essential professions such as teachers. Ron DeSantis hasn’t been in favor of helping these underdogs, as he advocated against a ballot that successfully raised the minimum wage in the state.
Florida is a well-known and desirable retirement destination for many Americans seeing as there is no need to pay any personal income tax. Ron DeSantis has continuously been in favor of maintaining this Floridian benefit for wealthy residents of the state over funding for programs that would help residents with an average income.
“ Ultimately, Ron DeSantis has kept many traditional and rigorous Republican policies that have certainly benefited the wealthy – but have left the average samaritan in Florida out in the dust. ”
Why is Ron DeSantis controversial?
Throughout his past four years as governor, Ron DeSantis has garnered extensive media attention for many of his controversial policies – starting with the Covid-19 pandemic.
In 2020 when the pandemic sent most of the U.S. under “lockdown” (a loser term in the United States as many Americans were not actually required to remain confined in their homes as opposed to Asian and European countries around the world), DeSantis was vocal on his strong opinions against the necessity of masks, lockdowns, and business closures – even if temporary.
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In fact, DeSantis has remained adamant that protection against Covid-19 is “ridiculous” – seeing as the C.D.C has recently advised Americans to take an additional booster shot for the infamous virus, and DeSantis has been strongly opposed to this recommendation.
“ “I will not stand by and let the F.D.A. and C.D.C. use healthy Floridians as guinea pigs for new booster shots.” – Ron DeSantis ”
Ironically, DeSantis’s statements regarding Covid-19 booster shots will continue to put residents of Florida at risk – especially with the state’s tanking healthcare system.
Another area where Ron DeSantis has garnered significant controversy is in regards to climate change. Even as the state continues to battle hurricanes and flooding, DeSantis continues to push for more domestic oil and gas production in favor of supporting the economy rather than seeking to reduce emissions.
👉 Ron DeSantis choosing to prioritize the economy in a state that is evidently and arguably suffering from climate change more than other states has raised controversy on his priorities and policies.
However, where DeSantis has sparked most controversy is with his new efforts to implement “censorship” in the state of Florida. Examples of this include banning books in classrooms, prohibiting teachers from educating students on critical race theory, and even banning forms of diversity training.
Even more so, DeSantis has passed Florida's Parental Rights in Education Act, or better known as the “Don’t Say Gay” bill – which is aimed to protect students from sensitive material. However, in reality – the bill creates fear for those a part of the LGBTQ+ community, as it even aims to ban gender-affirming care for trans gender children.
Lastly, Ron DeSantis has been vocal (most recently in the GOP Republican debates for the 2024 presidential election) against abortion – signing a bill that will ban abortions six weeks into a pregnancy in the state of Florida. This occurred once Roe vs. Wave was overturned – which allowed states to govern abortion laws freely and ultimately granted Ron DeSantis newfound power.
Why is Ron DeSantis a potential Republican Candidate for the 2024 presidential election?
2024 is set to be an interesting presidential election, with ten people running for the Republican spot – Ron DeSantis might be inching his way closer to inauguration day than we might think.
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The 2020 election saw a tight race between Joe Biden and Donald Trump, and many news outlets have predicted a repeat of this exact race for 2024. As of late September 2023, Trump even has a 1% lead on Biden – raising the notion that the two will be neck and neck once again.
However, there is something drastically different this time around in comparison to the 2020 election – and that is Trump’s recent indictment in Atlanta, which could hinder his ability to run for president at all.
This is where Ron DeSantis could swoop in and take the Republican nomination to run for president himself, as Trump’s potential to move forward with his presidential campaign could dwindle by the day with his recent indictment. In addition to this, several states are looking to oversee the 14th amendment and remove Trump from the ballot.
Seeing as DeSantis is already a well-known candidate with a large following having served as the governor of Florida since 2019, it isn’t improbable to believe that Trump supporters could choose DeSantis as their runner up choice for president.
On the other hand, if Trump is still able to run – his continued media coverage could result in his supporters spreading the word even further and a possible revolt, which would not include DeSantis.
What would Ron DeSantis do if he were elected president?
Ron DeSantis has raised millions of dollars for his campaign for president so far, and if all that support is to help him win the election – he already has ideas on what to do if he were to become president.
“ “One of the biggest things DeSantis plans to do if he is elected as president is to close four major federal agencies: the Department of Education, Commerce and Energy, and even the IRS.” ”
As Trump remains as his potential greatest opponent in the race for presidency, Ron DeSantis has made an effort to set himself apart from Trump – mostly by moving himself further to the right with many issues in comparison to the 45th president of the United States.
For example, DeSantis recently issued a veto on a well-known criminal justice bill – and offered no explanation as to why. Some critics have deemed it as another act to set himself apart from Trump in the midst of the 2024 presidential election.
Ron DeSantis would likely continue to execute many of the same policies he has implemented in Florida to be country-wide: which could include banning books in school, implementing fear for those in the LGBTQ+ community, prioritizing the economy over the environment, and prohibiting the inability for women to get an abortion – without any exceptions for sexual assault.
Ultimately, Ron DeSantis has led an interesting life so far – with his passion for baseball, studies at Yale and Harvard, serving in the U.S. Navy, and eventually marrying and having children in the state he was born and raised in, all bringing him to this point in the race for president. This in combination with his many controversial policies will have the United States, and the world, keeping a close eye on him as the 2024 presidential election looms near.
What about Greenly?
If reading this article about Ron DeSantis, his story, and his views have made you interested in reducing your carbon emissions to further fight against climate change – Greenly can help you!
Breaking down the insight from political leaders like Ron DeSantis can be overwhelming, but don’t worry – Greenly is here to help. Click here to schedule a demo to see how Greenly can help you find ways to improve energy efficiency and decrease the dependency on fossil fuels in your own company.
Greenly can help you make an environmental change for the better, starting with a carbon footprint assessment to know how much carbon emissions your company produces.
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