No governor has done a better job than Ron DeSantis in Florida. His state is growing, luring people fleeing high-tax states such as New York.
DeSantis offers bold, conservative leadership on a host of important issues. During the COVID-19 pandemic, many states imposed draconian mandates on their citizens, forcing them to wear masks or take the unproven vaccine. In Florida, DeSantis ensured that his citizens enjoyed health freedom and were not forced to adhere to unconstitutional restrictions. He insisted that his state remain open for business; consequently, Florida fared well during the pandemic.
While Louisiana and other states are celebrating questionable and unpopular carbon capture and sequestration projects, DeSantis accurately labeled these “Green New Deal” boondoggles as “scams.”
While Louisiana barely lowered state income taxes and offset the loss of revenue with increased sales taxes, resulting in more tax revenue flowing into the coffers, Florida, under the leadership of Governor DeSantis, offers no personal income taxes.
In fact, DeSantis is now working expeditiously on a plan to eliminate property taxes in Florida. He said that he wants to do it before “the beginning of August…it's got to get printed on the ballot, and so the deadline would probably be the end of July, but I'd like to do it before then, for sure.”
While Louisiana, with a Republican governor and a GOP-controlled legislature with a supermajority, passed congressional maps that gave another seat to a progressive Democrat in 2024, DeSantis is delivering more congressional seats for the Republican Party. He is pushing a plan that will give the Republican Party four more congressional seats in Florida, hopefully to counteract the gerrymandered map recently passed by Virginia voters.
After nearly eight successful years as Governor of Florida, DeSantis is term-limited and will leave office in January of 2027.
In April, Governor DeSantis had lunch with President Donald Trump at his Doral Golf Club in Miami, Florida. Reportedly, the meeting focused on exploring opportunities for DeSantis to serve in the Trump administration. Anonymous insiders report that DeSantis would like to be appointed Attorney General, Secretary of War, or even better, Supreme Court Justice.
When asked about DeSantis, Trump said, “I like him a lot.”
Fortunately, this is a major improvement over the hard feelings that existed between the two men during the 2024 Republican presidential primaries, when DeSantis challenged Trump for the nomination. Although Trump easily won, DeSantis was a formidable competitor. He gave him the nickname “Ron De-Sanctimonious” during the campaign.
Since that time, DeSantis has become a tremendous ally for President Trump. For example, several weeks ago, he attended a White House roundtable discussion on the problems in college athletics today.
DeSantis strongly supports the President’s Executive Order to revamp college athletics and restore “order, fairness, and stability.” In recent years, college athletics has become unrecognizable as athletes are paid millions of dollars and can transfer to multiple universities during their careers. Trump wants to create a system that limits athletes to one transfer during their careers. Otherwise, athletes will have to wait a year to regain eligibility.
DeSantis has also been a fierce advocate of the Trump administration’s efforts to deport illegal aliens. He helped to create the “Alligator Alcatraz” facility in the Everglades to hold illegal aliens. The President toured it in July. When asked to grade DeSantis, the President said he deserved a “10 out of 10, maybe 9.9.”
As Governor, DeSantis has signed bills naming an airport and roads to honor President Trump. Florida will also proudly host the Trump presidential library in Miami.
There is great precedent for President Trump forgiving his former opponents. His Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, was his opponent in the 2016 presidential race. Trump famously nicknamed him “Little Marco.” U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC), one of the President’s closest friends in Congress, was also his opponent in the 2016 presidential race.
If Rubio and Graham can become close allies, so can DeSantis, who has repeatedly delivered for Florida's citizens and members of the Republican Party.
What DeSantis accomplished in Florida should be a blueprint for every other Governor in the nation. His fiscal management of the Florida state budget has been outstanding. According to DeSantis, “We've got a massive surplus in Florida. We're spending less money this year than we did last year.”
While states like California and New York have horrible budget problems, Florida is taxing less, spending less, and using its excess funds to pay down debt. DeSantis noted that “just in my seven years” as Governor, Florida has been able to pay “off 50% of the state's debt.” This is debt that was accumulated in “180 years of a state.” Now, due to the “good fiscal stewardship” of Governor DeSantis, “half” of the state’s debt is “gone.”
The debt reduction has saved the state more than $1 billion “in principal and interest costs.” With proper fiscal management, DeSantis has also been able to triple the state’s “rainy day fund” and double the “budget reserves.”
In his last “State of the State” address to the Florida Legislature, DeSantis proudly declared that his administration has “proven that fiscal responsibility and limited government work.”
The results are quite impressive. Along with significant spending restraints, tax cuts, and debt reductions, Florida has been responsible for almost 14% of the nation’s job growth since 2020.
The Governor believes that his policies, approved by a Republican-led legislature, have “made the state of Florida the most taxpayer-friendly state government of all 50 states.”
DeSantis is also proud of the educational progress Florida has made. Last year, 92.2 percent of Florida’s students graduated from high school, “the highest in the state’s history.” Simultaneously, public school teachers are better compensated, with DeSantis allocating $6 billion for salary increases.
Another positive development in Florida is a 47 percent reduction in the number of children entering the state’s child welfare program.
The results in Florida under Governor DeSantis's leadership are amazing. Let’s hope he will soon add his talents to the Trump administration.
Jeff Crouere is a native New Orleanian and his award-winning program, “Ringside Politics,” airs Saturdays from 1-2 p.m. CT nationally on Real America's Voice TV Network & AmericasVoice.News and weekdays from 7-9 a.m. & 6-7 p.m. CT on WGSO 990-AM & Wgso.com. He is the President and General Manager of WGSO Radio, a political columnist, the author of America's Last Chance, and provides regular commentaries on the Jeff Crouere YouTube channel and at Crouere.net. For more information, email him at jcrouere@gmail.com.
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