After the 2022 midterm elections, where the only real “red wave” was in Florida and that turned out to be a tsunami, you can’t blame Republicans in the Sunshine State for wanting to have their cake and eat it too.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis defeated his Democratic opponent so thoroughly that, in the eyes of many, he was catapulted to the front of the line in the 2024 presidential election, surpassing even Donald Trump. It remains unlikely that DeSantis will go toe-to-toe with the former president, but Florida state legislators are discussing changing a state law to allow DeSantis to mount a White House run without resigning as governor.
And they have the means to do it given that while the GOP at a national level eked out a majority in the House by a sliver and failed to capture the Senate, Florida Republicans secured a supermajority in both chambers of the state legislature.
Section 99.012 of the Florida Statutes, the Resign-to-Run Law, states: “No officer may qualify as a candidate for another public office, whether state, district, county or municipal, if the terms or any part thereof run concurrently with each other, without resigning from the office he or she presently holds.”
Under the law, an office-holder can make their resignation effective the day they would assume the new office if elected.
Florida’s incoming GOP leaders have said they’re willing to change the law to allow DeSantis to continue as governor while campaigning for president in 2024, should he decide to run.
“Both House Speaker Paul Renner (R-Palm Coast) and Senate President Kathleen Passidomo (R-Naples), both of whom were sworn into their new posts on Tuesday, agreed it would be a ‘good idea’ to make it clear that DeSantis would not have to resign if he wound up becoming the GOP nominee,” the outlet reported.
“If an individual who is Florida governor is running for president, I think he should be allowed to do it,” Passidomo said. “I really do. That’s a big honor and a privilege, so it is a good idea.”
DeSantis has shown no urgency in engaging in what would be a heavyweight contest with Trump, as seen in his remarks last week during a press conference.
“We just finished this election, OK? People just need to chill out a little bit on some of this stuff,” the popular governor said.
"We just finished this election, OK? People just need to chill out a little bit on some of this stuff."
— Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) deflects when asked if there's a "civil war brewing in the GOP" after Trump, who's attacked him as "Ron DeSanctimonious," announced his 2024 bid pic.twitter.com/OQCeGTqotw
— The Recount (@therecount) November 16, 2022
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Tom Tillison grew up in Maryland before moving to Central Florida as a young teen. It is in the Sunshine State that he honed both his passion for politics and his writing skills. Tillison also contributes to BizPac Review.
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