After months of buildup and speculation, Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida is officially entering the 2024 White House race.
in a relatively strong position. He's firmly in second place, far ahead of the rest of the field of actual and potential Republican White House contenders, but his poll numbers have slipped since earlier this year in relation to Trump.
But when it comes to fundraising, he’s sitting on a massive war chest he built during last year’s gubernatorial re-election campaign. DeSantis set ain the 2022 cycle, and had $110 million cash on hand in his fundraising committees at the start of the spring. Much of that money could likely be transferred to Never Back Down, a super PAC backing DeSantis's White House bid. "Gov. DeSantis has earned his place atop the Republican presidential primary field," longtime Republican strategist Colin Reed noted. "DeSantis has a great story to tell, a great record to run on, and a young, telegenic family." Reed, a veteran of presidential and Senate campaigns, emphasized that "in terms of name ID, in terms of ability to raise money, in terms of his ability to get on any TV show he wants, he’s got all that. He didn’t need to get into the race any earlier." But because of his powerful position, DeSantis has a large target on his back. And Trump, who’s known for pummeling his political rivals, didn’t wait for the governor to declare his candidacy. Trump started targeting DeSantis last autumn, nicknaming him "Ron DeSanctimonious." And early this year the former president charged that the governor was a "RINO GLOBALIST," and began referring to him as "DeSanctus." Pointing to his support for DeSantis in 2018, Trump argued that if the governor joined him in the 2024 Republican nomination race, "I do think it would be a great act of disloyalty because, you know, I got him in. He had no chance. His political life was over." DeSantis has mostly ignored Trump’s verbal attacks, although he’s occasionally responded. When Trump suggested earlier this year — without offering any proof — that DeSantis was "grooming high school girls with alcohol" during his tenure years earlier as a teacher, the governor said "I don't spend my time trying to smear other Republicans." Alluding to those attacks from Trump, Reed said for DeSantis "now comes the biggest challenge and that is his ability to take a punch on the national stage.""The former president’s already been swinging at him and he’s been able to stay out of the fray by virtue of not being a candidate," he added. "Now he’s got to get in there and go toe to toe with a guy who throws haymakers like no other. And that’s going to be his biggest test."the former ambassador to the United Nations and former two-term South Carolina governor, Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina, a rising star in the GOP and fierce fundraiser who just declared his candidacy, and former two-term Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson. Also vying for the nomnation are multi-millionaire entrepreneur, best-selling author and conservative commentator Vivek Ramaswamy, Michigan businessman and 2022 gubernatorial candidate Perry Johnson and conservative radio talk show host and former California gubernatorial candidate Larry Elder. The field will likely also include former Vice President Mike Pence, who's expected to launch a campaign in the coming weeks. Govs. Doug Burgum of North Dakota and Chris Sununu of New Hampshire are seriously mulling presidential bids, with announcements likely in the coming weeks, and former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie expected to announce in the coming days whether he'll launch a second GOP presidential campaign. Former Reps. Will Hurd of Texas and Mike Rogers of Michigan may also launch 2024 campaigns.
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