Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis' 2024 presidential campaign has not just weakened his brand on the national stage — it has also tarnished his once-indestructible image in Florida itself, reported POLITICO on Friday.
"College boards, stacked with DeSantis appointees, are rejecting job candidates with ties to the governor," reported Gary Fineout and Kimberly Leonard. "The chair of the Republican Party of Florida urged executive committee members to attend all GOP candidate events — giving cover to party faithful who want to attend a dinner at Mar-a-Lago with former President Donald Trump. And the board that oversees many of Florida’s affordable housing programs this month placed on leave its executive director, who was helped into the job by a top DeSantis adviser."
According to the report, Republican strategists and lobbyists in Florida report that DeSantis' influence — which previously allowed him to set a whole legislative agenda against the Walt Disney corporation and exclude Black voters from redistricting — is fading.
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“You don’t get the assumption they are measuring drapes anymore — they are waiting for him to drop out,” said one GOP consultant to POLITICO.
According to Fineout and Leonard, "There is a widespread expectation that his candidacy will end in failure. His standing at home may depend on how long he slogs forward in the presidential campaign — and how he will manage his exit from the race if he eventually drops out."
Polls last year suggested that DeSantis was leading Trump in some key early states. But as he has hit the campaign trail and been subject to more intense media scrutiny of his record, policies, and even simply the way he interacts with voters, his support has dried up rapidly. This trend has accelerated as the former president has mocked and attacked DeSantis over everything from his past support for cutting Social Security to his feud with Disney that even DeSantis himself now seems to want to sweep it under the rug.
In the latest polling averages, DeSantis is more than 40 points behind Trump.
