Should DeSantis Sign the Exemption to Florida’s ‘Resign to Run Law’ or Veto It? Here’s Our Take!
On March 25th, 2023 we published a column titled DeSantis Will Irrevocably Lose the Trust of the 4.6+ Million FL Voters Who Gave Him a Second Term. Here’s Why. At that time we concluded,
A “resign to run” law is a conflicts of interest law. Either DeSantis is governor of the state of Florida or he is running for president. Doing both is a political conflict of interest.
If DeSantis decides to run then his time and efforts will have to shift to his 2024 campaign if he intends to win the GOP nomination.
According to the Federal Election Commission website as of the publishing of this column there are 698 candidates from 20 parties running for president.
The GOP’s top candidate to resister is President Donald J. Trump. There have been multiple polls asking eligible voters about Trump and DeSantis candidacies here, here, here and here.
Given the provisions of Florida’s Resign-to-Run statues there are two possible outcomes:
- DeSantis wins the GOP nomination and then wins the 2024 Presidential election.
- DeSantis wins the GOP nomination and then loses the 2024 Presidential election.
If either #1 or #2 happens then Governor DeSantis would leave the governor’s mansion on January 20th, 2025.
Two years before the end of his current term as governor.
The question that Governor DeSantis must ask himself is will he irrevocably lose the trust of the 4.6+ million Florida voters who gave him a second term thereby losing the state of Florida, thereby allowing the Democrats to keep the White House.
Remember what Desantis said, “We’ve [the people of Florida] accomplished more than anybody thought possible 4 years ago, but we’ve got so much more to do and I have only begun to fight.”
QUESTION: Will DeSantis keep his promise to “keep up the fight” for freedom in Florida or not?
ANSWER: Governor DeSantis, if he wants to run for president, has a prefect right to do so. However, he must “follow the law” and irrevocably resign first to prove his commitment.
DeSantis can’t have his cake and eat is too.
Any effort to tweak the Resign-to-Run law to favor one specific elected “official” destroys the entire premise of the law and its intent.
Any favoritism toward one elected official will inextricably result in a negative backlash and possibly split the GOP.
It now appears that Governor DeSantis can, with his signature, give himself a Have-My-Cake-And-Eat-It-Too card.
Is this really the way the Governor wants to begin a 2024 presidential campaign?
DeSantis Having His Cake and Eating It Too
Post Millennial’s Hannah Nightingale reported,
On Friday [April 28th, 2023], the Florida House passed a bill that now heads to Governor Ron DeSantis’ desk allowing the leader to run for president without having to resign from his current post.
The bill passed in the House 76-34, according to Florida’s Voice. The passing comes just days after the bill passed 28 to 12 in the state Senate.
Just The News‘ Ben Whedon reported,
Should the Florida governor pursue a presidential bid and ultimately triumph in the general election, he would assume the nation’s top job midway through his gubernatorial term. State Democrats excoriated the decision as a transparent bid to cozy up to the governor.
“This is not just a clarification, this is an intentional move to curry favor. You’re not doing this because it’s the right thing to do. You’re doing it because you can,” state Sen. Shevrin Jones, D, said Thursday, per the outlet.
DeSantis this week disputed reports that he intends to soon announce a presidential bid, saying “[i]f there’s any announcements, those will come at the appropriate time. But if anyone’s telling you that somehow they know this or they know that, that’s just inaccurate because there’s not been any decisions made.”
ConservativeIntel in an April 24, 2023 article titled Mr. Ron goes to Washington reported,
DeSantis: Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) did not get the boost he needed from his trip to Capitol Hill. He picked up only one new endorsement — by Rep. Laurel Lee (R-Fla) — in addition to the two he already had (Reps. Chip Roy (R-Texas) and Thomas Massie (R-Ky.).
[ … ]
Still, the trip was not the abject disaster that some are trying to make it. Yes, he has done poorly with endorsements, and endorsements probably matter for him more than they normally would for any other candidate facing any other opponent. But he also has to have expected this. Nobody in office who could potentially face a primary wants to cross the former president this early, especially not on behalf of a candidate who has not even announced for president yet.
Has DeSantis been negligent in forming relationships with members of Congress, and with Florida’s delegation specifically? Part of the issue is that his presidential star rose a bit unexpectedly.
[ … ]
Is this late start hurting DeSantis? Definitely. Given Trump’s current status as the de facto Republican Party leader, it should be a very important part of any challenger’s early campaigning to garner endorsements from elected officials who might otherwise be expected to back Trump. This is not to say that endorsements matter as a rule, but in this case they give Republican voters permission, in a sense, to say out loud that they will be backing someone else besides Trump.
To date, DeSantis is not doing this well, but that doesn’t mean he will always fail. One reason he can’t get many endorsements at this point is that he has waited so long to get into the race. This delay has benefits, but also costs, and he has to be willing to live with both.
Has his candidacy collapsed? Hardly. He trails Trump in the latest national poll, 51 percent to 38 percent. That’s about as good as he could hope for at this point, and in fact slightly better than the same poll’s result last month. He will still trail Trump when he enters the race, but Trump — facing an (admittedly flimsy) indictment, a lawsuit, and at least two other criminal investigations, has a rockier road ahead.
The Bottom Line
President Donald Trump, the frontrunner for the Republican presidential nomination, has enjoyed a great deal of success in getting Florida’s congressional delegation behind him.
The Daily Caller’s Chief National Correspondent Henry Rogers reported,
TRUMP FORCE ONE — Former President Donald Trump focused on attacking President Joe Biden during his first stop in New Hampshire since announcing his third presidential bid. He warned Thursday about what he believes would happen under a possible second term for his opponent.
The Daily Caller flew with Trump to Manchester, New Hampshire, on his first trip to the state since launching his third presidential bid in November. Trump remains the frontrunner for the Republican presidential nomination in 2024, most national polling shows.
[ … ]
Trump also announced his leadership team for the state, which includes 50 members of the legislature. The campaign says that group makes up 25% of Republicans in the New Hampshire House of Representatives.
[ … ]
During the speech, Trump said, “the choice in this election is now between strength or weakness, between success or failure, between safety or anarchy, between peace or conflict, and prosperity or catastrophe.”
Governor DeSantis now has only two options:
- Sign the amendment to the Resign To Run law and anger the 4.6+ Floridians who voted to give him a second term.
- Veto the amendment and prove to the 4.6+ Floridians who voted to give him a second term that he is truly dedicated to the Sunshine State, the Free State of Florida.
If Governor DeSantis does not veto this amendment what is the signal that he’s sending to Floridians?
This one tweet perhaps says it all:
I love my Governor. But, we elected him to be Governor, not President. I have no problem with him running for President… but AFTER he's done serving his term as Governor. Once he's done that, if he wants to run for President in 2028, I'll be on board. But, this is Trump time !! pic.twitter.com/7yokTfBuKU
— Tee returns yet again (@PalmBayMAGA) April 22, 2023
If Governor DeSantis vetoes this amendment and the legislature overrides his veto then we will have a different ballgame.
Let the March 19th, 2024 Florida Presidential Preference Primary Election begin and may the best patriot win!
©2023 Dr. Rich Swier. All rights reserved.
Agree with the Tweet above 100%. I don’t understand why DeSantis is doing this. I don’t know any true FL conservative who agrees with the FL Legislature on passing this law which allows DeSantis to have a conflict of interest.
Gov DeSantis – Veto this law; don’t run for GOP POTUS Primary until your term as Gov is over in 2028. Then you’ll have our full support !
The worst part about this entire episode is that it was passed by a Republican controlled Senate and House. It speaks volumes of each member who voted for it. Yet, it would not have happened if DeSantis didn’t want it.