“There’s Kennedy in him”: Ron DeSantis, the governor of Florida who dreams of being president

It may be counter-intuitive, but to understand the popularity of Ron DeSantis, it’s best to talk to a couple of old hippies. In 1978, Ray Chasser moved to Little Haiti, Miami’s poorest neighborhood. “No one wanted to live in this place 98% populated by Haitians, with drug dealers and prostitutes on every street corner”, says this friendly carpenter with a beard as bushy as the jungle of his huge garden. After buying up neighboring shacks one after the other, he now owns the entire block that houses a farm – right in Miami! – with goats, pigs, chickens and parrots, but also a vegan restaurant, volleyball court, playground for children and three houses perched in the trees, which he rents on Airbnb. Every week, real estate developers offer him millions of dollars for his land. His answer does not vary: “Never.”

His wife, Leslie, has long voted Democrat. In 2018, she even campaigned against Republican DeSantis, then supported by Donald Trump. But the Covid pandemic has forever changed the vision of the policy of this follower of nutritional medicine (prevention through healthy eating), refractory to drugs. “The way the Democratic Party ostracized those who didn’t want a vaccine left me disappointed and hurt. Suddenly I was being reviled in the press and by some (ex-)friends. I thank Governor DeSantis for letting the choice to each. I also discovered that the man is far from being stupid”, she says sitting on the terrace of her wooden house.

Narrowly elected four years ago, re-elected triumphantly last November with 19 points ahead of his Democratic rival, the 44-year-old governor has not only won over Floridians. He made a name for himself nationally. Today, he stands out among Republicans as a reasonable alternative to Donald Trump. A recent survey of wall street journal with the right-wing electorate places him ahead of the ex-president: 52% popularity against 38%. “DeSantis is Trump with a brain”, summarizes the FinancialTimes. “But without the permanent circus!” Adds Gary, a very conservative tough guy who fought in Iraq and now lives in Tampa.

“There’s Kennedy in DeSantis”

The Governor’s pedigree self-made man impresses: son of a television installer and a nurse, Yale and Harvard graduate, former star of his university’s baseball team, he is also a medalist in the war in Iraq, where he was Navy Seals Special Forces Legal Advisor [NDLR : il devait veiller au respect des lois de la guerre]. “There is Kennedy in this man”, believes, in Palm Beach, a great bourgeois admiring the way this father supported his wife during her breast cancer.

A Reagan-leaning conservative, DeSantis is also a cunning politician. With its law on “parental rights in education” of last March, he laid a trap for the Democrats. It prohibits primary school teachers from discussing the issue of sexual orientation before the age of 10, which, presumably, few female teachers did. But by rebelling against this text (which she nicknamed “‘Don’t Say Gay’ Law”, or “the law ‘Do not pronounce the word gay'”), the LGBTQ movement and part of the Democrats fell in the panel.

Under pressure from employees, Disney, one of Florida’s largest employers, for example, felt compelled to issue a statement critical of the governor. Which then suspended the property tax exemption enjoyed by the Orlando amusement park since 1963. Against the backdrop of a “culture war” between the right and the left, the controversy ended in favor of DeSantis with the resignation of the CEO of Disney in November, disavowed by its board of directors.

For Latinos, family values ​​are important

In fact, the trend fights woke exasperate part of the population. “The left has gone mad”, breathes Ines Flax, real estate agent and Republican activist of Nicaraguan origin who cites as proof the proposal, by the management of a nearby school, to make the month of October “the month of LGBTQ history” – the initiative was rejected by Miami County.

“Contrary to what some would have you believe, we Republicans are not homophobic – everyone does what they want in their bedroom – but it is not for kindergarten and elementary school teachers to talk about gender identity, period!”, Supports mother Ana Maria Rodriguez, Republican elected to the Florida Senate. “In high school, why not; but in primary school, it’s madness!”

Of Italian origin and Catholic, Ron DeSantis knows well that family values ​​are important for Latinos. However, in Florida, they represent one in four voters. Also, the governor has increased the legal deadline for abortion from the 24th to the 15th week of pregnancy (in France, it is sixteen weeks). In addition, the governor positions himself on international issues: he denounces the dictatorships in Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua and has taken protectionist measures against China.

But does Ron DeSantis really dream of the White House? Another question arises: will Trump himself run? “Donald will not want to lose an election twice in a row; he will only go if he is certain of winning,” calculates a member of the Mar-a-Lago club, where he regularly meets the former president. For the moment, this one does not let go. Conversely, the governor, who has time for him, could choose to skip his turn. For all practical purposes, Trump is already attacking DeSantis, threatening him, giving him a nickname: DeSanctimonius, that is to say “DeSantis-the-Sanctimonious”. Clever, the interested party ignores these villains, takes height and explains that being criticized “is part of the job”. “Look at the scoreboard,” he simply adds, alluding to his electoral score.

Half-heartedly, the Republicans interviewed by L’Express prefer DeSantis. “We need new blood,” said one. “I will never forgive him for the Capitol riots; this guy is crazy!” Adds the other, while defending the former president’s economic and international record. But nothing is decided for 2024. Other conservative personalities are jostling at the gate: former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, ex-Vice President Mike Pence, and ex-Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley, and more. “Outside Florida, DeSantis remains an unknown, recalls Brian Latell, a former CIA who votes Democratic. When he gets into the deep end, Americans will judge, only then, if the governor really has the makings of a President.”