DeSantis allies say it’s time to launch presidential bid

In Tallahassee, Gov. Ron DeSantis’ Republican allies say they’re working “at warp speed” to finish their legislative business.

In South Carolina and Nevada, early-voting states that are critical in a presidential primary, his operatives are moving quickly to build out a political team that is essentially a campaign in waiting. And in Washington, his most vocal supporters are urging him to announce his White House intentions now.

Just six months after a dominant reelection sent his national stock soaring, a palpable sense of urgency is growing among DeSantis’ allies as increasingly emboldened critics within his own party — particularly former President Donald Trump — work to undermine his presidential campaign before it begins.

“I would prefer him to be in the race right now. In fact, I encouraged him to get in the race right now,” said U.S. Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., who hosted a visit by DeSantis to Washington last week that was overshadowed by Trump’s efforts to pick off support among Florida’s congressional delegation.

Massie, who is one of just three members of Congress who has endorsed DeSantis for 2024, acknowledged the governor is losing some political strength.

Many GOP voters have rallied behind Trump in the wake of his recent criminal indictment in New York. Some DeSantis donors are pausing their donations, citing concerns about his readiness for the national stage.

Other would-be supporters have begun to worry that the policy victories he celebrates in Florida — including the six-week abortion ban he signed earlier in the month and an ongoing crackdown on Disney, the state’s largest employer — may ultimately become political liabilities.

“If there is any urgency, it’s to make sure no third-place candidate emerges. Right now, it’s a heads-up race between Donald Trump and Ron DeSantis,” Massie said in an interview. “The urgency I feel is, the more cats and dogs that get in the race, the more they could siphon from Ron DeSantis.”

The Republican Party won’t formally choose its next presidential nominee until August of next year at its national convention. But with the first presidential debate little more than three months away, several Republicans have launched campaigns already. More are expected to join in the coming weeks.

DeSantis, who has operated for much of the year with a quiet confidence that he could enter the race on his terms, isn’t likely to make any announcements until after the Legislature concludes its business in early May.

As DeSantis prepares to launch, the Republican statehouse supermajority has worked at a rapid pace to carry out the governor’s conservative cultural agenda.

Florida state Rep. Spencer Roach, a Trump critic allied with DeSantis, noted that the state Legislature has been conducting its business “at warp speed” this spring. The accelerated pace, he said, is likely to allow DeSantis to shift his attention to the 2024 contest as soon as possible.

Roach downplayed any sense of urgency around DeSantis’s announcement but acknowledged Trump’s merciless attacks against the Florida governor may be taking a toll. Indeed, Trump has been almost singularly focused on tearing down DeSantis, whom he calls “Ron DeSanctimonious.”

The assault on social media, in speeches and in paid ads covers everything from DeSantis’ past policies on Social Security to his character and even his sexuality.

Trump’s jabs on Social Security and Medicare have been particularly effective, Roach said.

“I have had elderly constituents and even members of my family say, ‘Hey, I’m a little worried,'” Roach said. “Those attacks are landing.”

To that end, the DeSantis-sanctioned super PAC, Never Back Down, is buildiing what appears to be a campaign in waiting across several key states. The super PAC, which has reported $30 million in the bank so far, is based in an Atlanta office with about two dozen paid staff.

As of Friday, the group said it had installed at least six paid staffers in each of the first four states on the Republican presidential primary calendar: Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina.

The super PAC has also established 28 Students for DeSantis chapters across 18 states, including the first four on the calendar and others in subsequent primary states like Alabama, Colorado, Oklahoma and Texas. Several more are already in the works.

Most of the announced candidates don’t have that much personnel on the ground so far.

“This really is based on people who are excited and in these states craving action now,” said Kristin Davison, Never Back Down’s chief operating officer. “We want to give them a vehicle and infrastructure to convert their enthusiasm into action.”

Associated Press writer Anthony Izaguirre in Tallahassee contributed to this report.