In a speech responding to the national midterm election results, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis called the outcome "close to an extinction-level event" and advised the GOP to do some soul-searching:
"This midterm, no question, was a rebuke of the president and the Congress by Democrats, independents, and some Republicans that crossed over," he said at a morning news conference in Tallahassee last Wednesday.
"A lot of our voters who stayed home, they stayed home because they were frustrated with the lack of productivity from Republicans in the House and Senate," DeSantis added. "That's just a fact. They were promised big things, and [Republicans] didn't deliver it."
The GOP suffered significant losses nationwide Nov. 3, losing control of both the House and Senate as Democrats flipped at least seven Senate seats and more than 30 House seats, along with five governorships.
Noting that Florida Republicans bucked the national trend by sweeping statewide races, with Republican Byron Donalds defeating Democrat David Jolly to win the governorship and Sen. Ashley Moody narrowly winning reelection, commentator Jenna Ellis analyzed DeSantis' standing.
"He's entirely correct," she told American Family Radio. "He's one of the few that can say that from a position of having consistently delivered conservative wins, regardless of who was coming after him or what the MAGA crowd said about him, what the establishment did."
"He, I think, is poised and positioned very well to be the next GOP leader because Florida was the only one that held the line," Ellis continued. "Being a voter here in Florida, the only reason that Florida held the line is because Gov. DeSantis put Amendment 3, our property tax relief issue, on the ballot and gave people something to turn out for."
In May 2023, DeSantis entered the 2024 Republican presidential race as a leading challenger to Donald Trump. Despite a strong conservative record, substantial fundraising and high early expectations, he struggled to gain traction against Trump and finished a distant second in the January 2024 Iowa caucuses.
He suspended his campaign Jan. 21, 2024, and endorsed Trump before the New Hampshire primary.
Citing three people briefed on his plans, The Washington Post recently reported that DeSantis is preparing to seek the 2028 Republican presidential nomination. He has reportedly contacted a national political consultant and begun fundraising through an affiliated super PAC.
Longtime Republican donor and energy executive Dan Eberhart, who served as a surrogate for DeSantis' 2024 campaign, suggested Florida's resistance to the Democratic midterm wave could strengthen DeSantis' national political standing. Axios also reports that some GOP donors are considering backing DeSantis as an alternative to Vice President JD Vance in 2028.
DeSantis' post-election media appearances, including interviews with CNN's Jake Tapper and others, have also fueled speculation. Meanwhile, Polymarket has increased its odds of DeSantis securing the nomination.
DeSantis has denied The Washington Post's report, accusing the newspaper of relying on anonymous sources and fabricating the claims.
Although Republicans lost their two-thirds supermajorities in both chambers of the state Legislature and Democrats made significant gains in the Florida House, Ellis noted that DeSantis' record in Florida keeps him in a strong position among potential national contenders heading toward 2028.
