(Spanish CNN) – Ron DeSantis will try to be re-elected governor of Florida in the elections next Tuesday, November 8, which will also renew the House of Representatives and the Senate at the national level and the authorities in a total of 36 states.
The Republican, in office since 2019, will face Democratic candidate Charlie Crist, in an attempt to strengthen his party’s dominance of Florida, a state traditionally considered to be oscillating – that is, it oscillated between Republican and Democratic majority – and which in recent years has become the basis of former President Donald Trump.
How has DeSantis done in recent years and how did he get to the elections?
Before winning the 2018 election and taking office in January 2019, DeSantis, 44, had served as Florida’s representative to the United States Congress and as a federal attorney.
Already in his representative years, he became one of the main defenders of future President Donald Trump – although he is now seen as a possible presidential candidate for 2024 – and a bulwark of the Republican Party: in 2018, CNN reported that DeSantis was in office. a list of representatives who had received contributions from the National Rifle Association (NRA) for the 2016 campaign.
His years as governor
DeSantis took over the governorate of Florida in January 2019, and shortly thereafter had to deal with the covid-19 pandemic in a state hard hit by the virus: with 1,465,903 confirmed cases and 11,648 deaths, Miami-Dade County it is among the hardest hit in the country, according to Johns Hopkins University.
In this context, DeSantis was criticized for ordering the lifting of restrictions earlier than most other districts and consistently opposed mandates of mandatory masks.
He did not stop there: he banned vaccine passports (even before they were real) and blocked the requirements for covid-19 vaccines to private employers, trying to distinguish himself from “lockdown governors”, under the pretext of protecting the individual rights and freedoms.
DeSantis also delved into curriculum wars in schools, a key issue for Republicans.
The Florida commissioner of education announced in early April that 41 percent of submitted math textbooks had been rejected because DeSantis claimed they included “indoctrinating concepts such as racial essentialism.”
These measures could amount to censorship and lead to the marginalization of some of the most vulnerable children struggling with identity problems, but the governor of Florida has repeatedly stated that his goal is to protect children.
In this context, the Florida lawmaker gave final approval to a series of bills targeting Disney in April, after weeks of controversy between the company and DeSantis over a new law limiting some courtroom discussions on sexual orientation. and gender identity.
One of the bills would do away with the unique status that allows Disney to operate as an independent government in its Orlando area theme parks. The other would eliminate a Disney exemption provided for in a social media bill that was enacted last year but was suspended by a federal judge’s decision.
DeSantis on himself
During Monday’s debate with Crist, DeSantis promptly defended his other actions which attracted frequent criticism and lawsuits from Democrats, immigrant groups, LGBTQ groups and their allies, but also generated a broad appeal behind the GOP. in Florida and beyond.
Regarding the new state rules preventing some transgender health care for minors, DeSantis compared “gender affirmation care” to “chemically neutered young children,” adding, “Many children go through a lot of different things. Much of the dysphoria resolves itself. alone when they become adults “.
Of the flights he orchestrated to move migrants from San Antonio, Texas to Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts, he said, “It’s sad it got to this point, but what we did was put this issue in the foreground “.
In banning critical race theory from the classroom, DeSantis said: “I don’t want to teach children to hate our country. I don’t want to teach children to hate themselves and the way to stop racial discrimination is to stop racial discrimination. “
In a comment that seemed to target much of DeSantis’ defense on these issues, Crist said, “He talks about it like it’s funny. It is not. These are difficult problems and they deserve mature leadership ”.
The latest polls indicate that the Republican has an approval rating of over 50% in his state, with about 43% negative image, with an 8 percentage point advantage over Democrat Crist in voting intentions. A situation, according to analysts, enviable for any governor who has had to go through the pandemic.
With information from Steve Contorno, Maeve Reston, Zachary B. Wolf, Dianne Gallagher, Rachel Janfaza and Harry Enten.
