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Report: Is This the Clearest Sign Yet That a DeSantis Presidential Run Is Imminent?

Guy Benson
Guy Benson  |  May 11, 2023 10:25 AM

There are plenty of obvious political signs, and various rumor mill tidbits about possible timelines, but sometimes it's the requisite legal niceties that tell the clearest story.  According to Politico, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has made a campaign finance-related move that strongly indicates that the launch of a presidential campaign is very near.  This isn't based on sources or scuttlebutt; it's right there in the documents, in black and white.  

In short, it appears, it's happening.  Likely very soon:

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis severed his connection to his long-standing state political committee and the tens of millions of dollars that it now controls, a step he needs to take ahead of a presidential campaign. The Republican governor is expected to jump into the race for president soon and the move to rebrand his Florida political committee — called Friends of Ron DeSantis — is the most concrete sign so far that his candidacy is imminent...The website for the committee was changed on Tuesday morning to say that its mission is “committed to advancing the Freedom Agenda and keeping Florida free.” But more importantly, the website says that the committee is associated with state Sen. Blaise Ingoglia and not DeSantis. The committee on Tuesday also filed paperwork that says Ingoglia is replacing a Tampa accountant as the official chair of the organization.

And why does this matter?  The upshot:

DeSantis first set up his committee back in 2018 and he used it to raise a record amount of money for his re-election campaign last year as he pulled in donations from many major Republican donors. Current campaign finance records show that the committee has nearly $86 million in the bank. But DeSantis cannot use money raised for Friends of Ron DeSantis in a federal race because state law does not limit how much someone can give to the political committee or the source of the donations. But that money could be shifted to a super PAC that backs DeSantis if the governor is no longer connected to the political committee. While some have questioned the legality of such a move, the Federal Elections Commission deadlocked over a similar strategy that was used by Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.).

That's quite a war chest that could help counter the intense barrage of attacks that Trumpworld has blasted at DeSantis, mostly on entitlement reform votes and 'disloyalty' accusations.  He's got a lot of ground to make up, as Donald Trump has bounced out to a large national lead in the GOP primary.  As we mentioned in this post about a failed oppo hit on the Florida governor, it's very likely that he'll lean heavily into his record of major wins -- both electorally and on policy -- in his pitch to voters.  Agree or disagree with the items here, this is a hefty list:

DeSantis cannot (and doesn't have to) make up 30 points overnight, but he'll need to reverse the momentum in a measurable way, and then build his numbers in key early states.  That's where meaningful momentum is necessary and disproportionately valuable.  But just plugging away at his successes -- the massive margin won in Florida, all the legislative victories, etc. -- won't be enough.  He'll also need to move 'soft' Trump support in his direction by actually finding a successful and effective way of sapping support from the former president, a task that has vexed and stymied other Republicans.  There's a growing pile of baggage sitting there, but can it be used to shift GOP votes?  And he'll have to pull that off while also taking a ton of incoming from the non-Trump candidates in the race.  Many or all of them will be punching up, trying to force him down, while Trump punches down, trying to keep him down.  

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It won't be easy.  But based on the information relayed above, and virtually all other indications, it looks like that's the job he's about to sign up for.  I'll leave you with DeSantis picking up another flurry of pre-announcement endorsements, this time from a Freedom Caucus member (who was part of the contingent opposing McCarthy in January) and a prominent former Trump campaign figure: