Republicans Still Have a Future. Ron DeSantis Showed Them How.

On a night when Republicans lost their grip on states they had governed for decades, the Ron DeSantis model in Florida was the sole survivor.

Gov. Ron DeSantis helped spare Florida the worst of a Republican bloodbath. Byron Donalds won the governorship and Ashley Moody retained her Senate seat. Both should send the outgoing governor a thank-you note.

DeSantis won his first term as governor in 2018 by less than half of a percentage point. In 2022, he won by 19.4 points. Donald Trump carried Florida by 13.1 points in 2024. Tuesday’s preliminary returns showed Donalds ahead by about 1.3 points and Moody by 2.9. Republicans needed almost every inch of ground they had gained in the past eight years. Without the Florida that Governor DeSantis helped build, both offices could easily have fallen.

At the end of 2018, registered Democrats outnumbered Republicans by approximately 257,000. This fall, Republicans led by roughly 1.54 million, a partisan swing approaching 1.8 million net registrations. Migration, party switching, and voter-roll maintenance contributed, but Governor DeSantis invested in the work, including $2 million for registration in 2021. 

He recognized the opportunity in front of him as governor to reshape Florida as a reliably Republican state for a generation and the state’s Republican leader, and he took advantage of it.

That reflects a defining trait of his governorship. Governor DeSantis has said he decided against polling specific issues when he took office. His explanation was straightforward. He believes responding to polls makes a politician a follower. Voters had elected him to exercise judgment, chart a course, and persuade people that it was worth following.

His COVID leadership put that approach before a national audience. Conservatives looking for open businesses and fewer restrictions saw an alternative in Florida. Then, by taking up issues like school choice and parental rights, he reinforced Florida’s appeal as a haven for Republicans. Over nearly eight years, he’s demonstrated to Republicans how to turn campaign promises into laws and governing priorities. Bar none, he is the model of what effective Republican governance can and should look like.

His property-tax amendment followed the same pattern. DeSantis pressed the issue for more than a year and his office helped craft the proposal legislators placed on the ballot. Amendment 3 passed on Election Day with 62 percent support. Simply put, putting up an amendment to significantly cut down on property taxes gave Florida’s GOP voters a reason to show up in an otherwise dispiriting Republican year.

His congressional map fight deserves consideration, too. Several Republican incumbents survived narrowly in this midterm election, and in some cases they have DeSantis’ map to thank. Florida’s new map likely helped prevent multiple additional losses when the national environment collapsed.

Texas offered no comparable escape. Democrats swept statewide contests, ending a winning drought dating to all the way back to 1994. Texans last elected a Democrat senator in 1988 and their last Democratic governor left office in 1995. Greg Abbott couldn’t even save his own job.

Gov. Ron DeSantis is now applying that same independence to his party’s failures. Speaking with Stephen A. Smith, he urged Republicans to acknowledge painful gas prices and take concerns about AI, Big Tech seriously, or issues like Flock cameras seriously. 

He is also asking what congressional Republicans did with the mandate voters gave them in 2024. He faulted them for failing to pursue lasting immigration changes, including codifying President Trump’s executive orders into law, and dismissed filibuster complaints as an excuse from senators who had not demonstrated the will to act. In his assessment, some Republican voters stayed home because they saw too little accomplished by the majorities they elected.

His push to ban congressional stock trading makes the same point. Voters expect lawmakers to serve the public, not their portfolios. Gov. Ron DeSantis is pressing Congress to pass a ban before this session ends and extend it to the executive branch. Republicans asking how to regain voters’ trust should start by delivering on promises like that.

Republicans should listen, particularly when younger voters worry about affordability, privacy, and their future. Pretending everything is wonderful insults people who know otherwise. Ceding those concerns to Democrats practically invites another defeat.

Ron DeSantis deserves enormous credit for the foresight and commitment to building an advantage in Florida that kept the state under Republican control. In his tenure as governor, he meticulously organized, governed effectively, and served as a true north star for the GOP on how to expand the party’s base. He is also willing to tell Republicans where they have gone wrong. After Tuesday’s humiliation, Republicans need answers about how to govern, rebuild trust, and win again. They should start with the DeSantis model that kept Florida standing.

Evan Berryhill is an attorney and founding partner of the public affairs firm The 1790 Group. He formerly served as Deputy Communications Director for Gov. Ron DeSantis’ 2022 gubernatorial reelection campaign. 

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