Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis poised to make presidential bid, Florida could be his blueprint

All eyes are on Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who is expected to use a flurry of victories the state legislature handed him during the state’s 2023 session as momentum to announce his bid in the upcoming 2024 presidential election.

Republicans held a supermajority in the Florida Legislature during the two-month session, affording DeSantis and his allies the opportunity to approve a sweeping abortion ban, permitless concealed carry for guns, lowering the death penalty threshold, and push several anti-immigration, anti-diversity and other anti-”woke” measures.

DeSantis’ accomplishments in Florida helped position him as a top rival to former President Donald Trump, and could serve as the blueprint for his presidential campaign. However, his stance on abortion and feud with Disney has sparked concern and doubt among donors, GOP officials and moderate voters.

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“His unrelenting focus on the cultural issues more than the economic issues gets to be tiresome,” Republican donor Bobbie Kilberg told the Associated Press. “I think people over time will want someone who does not add to the scenario of pushing people further and further and further apart.”

Those sentiments seemed to have manifested in national polls showing the divide between DeSantis and Trump steadily growing in Trump’s favor. As of May 7, FiveThirtyEight shows Trump leading DeSantis as the leading Republican candidate in 2024 by an average of 29.2 points — a 12.9-point increase since March 1.

Reuters reported that DeSantis will likely announce his presidential run sometime later this month, with a more formal event planned in June. Some of DeSantis’ backers are urging the governor to declare as soon as May 11, according to NBC News.

Six-week abortion ban

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed a new six-week abortion ban (SB 300), also called the "Heartbeat Protection Act," into law on April 13 after Florida House Republicans fast-tracked the bill through the Legislature.

SB 300 allows an exception if the procedure would save the woman’s life and in cases where pregnancy was the result of rape or incest — but only until 15 weeks.

Women would need to provide documentation such as medical record, restraining order or police report.

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Florida’s ‘Don’t Say Gay’ law expanded

Florida’s controversial Parental Rights in Education Act, also called the “Don’t Say Gay” bill, was expanded to include fourth through 12th grades. The bill originally only banned instruction about sexual orientation and gender identity from kindergarten through the third grade.

The Parental Rights in Education Act, HB 1557, was signed into law by DeSantis on March 28, 2022. It prohibits instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity in Florida classrooms. The bill originally only targeted kindergarten through third grade, and limited similar discussions is higher grades to what is “age-appropriate or developmentally appropriate for students in accordance with state standards.”

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Permitless concealed carry for guns

In March, DeSantis quietly signed a new gun bill that eliminates licensing requirements to carry a concealed firearm in most public places.

The bills SB150/HB543 eliminate the need for a concealed weapons license, which required a mandatory background check and a firearms training course, before you can carry hidden weapons or firearms on your person or in a vehicle in Florida, provided you still meet other gun ownership requirements.

The bill also adds private schools to the list of educational facilities that can ask the local sheriff for help establishing a guardian program, requires law enforcement agencies to develop an active assailant response policy, requires the Office of Safe Schools to develop a behavioral threat management operational process and develop a threat management portal, authorizes the state Department of Education to adopt emergency rules, requires the Department of Education to establish the Florida Safe Schools Canine Program, and more.

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Florida death penalty

On April 20, DeSantis signed a new death penalty law that allows juries to recommend a death sentence with an 8-to-4 vote, a change from the previous requirement of an unanimous decision from all 12 jurors.

The new law differs from Florida's previous law, which required a unanimous decision from a jury in order to recommend the death penalty. Supporters of the new law argue that it will make it easier for prosecutors to seek justice for victims and their families, while opponents worry that it will lead to more wrongful convictions and executions.

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On May 1, Gov. Ron DeSantis has signed into law a measure making child rape subject to the death penalty, defying a United States Supreme Court ruling.

The measure, House Bill 1297, allows a jury by a vote of at least 8-4 to recommend a death sentence for sexual battery on a child under the age of 12. It takes effect on Oct. 1.

Chinese influence bill

Gov. Ron DeSantis has signed a bill into law that targets United States-adversarial countries, but has many Florida Chinese groups worried it will lead to discrimination.

SB 264, which goes into effect on July 1, bounced between the Senate and House with different amendments and different Democrats expressing concerns last week, until it finally passed Thursday evening.

The touted goal of the bipartisan legislation, sponsored by Republicans and Democrats, is protecting national security. It targets “foreign countries of concern,” including Russia, Cuba, Iran and North Korea. It puts the biggest spotlight on China, carving out a part specifically devoted to how the legislation applies to its government and those connected with it.

Lawmakers are aiming to prevent Florida governmental entities from entering into contracts with these countries of concern if personal identifying information is in play. They also want to prevent economic incentives contracts from going to these countries.

It’s also intended to prevent the foreign governments and their officials from buying land within 20 miles of a U.S. military installation or critical infrastructure facility.

Immigration

A sweeping immigration bill (CS/SB 1718) that would make Florida's immigration laws some of the toughest in the country was sent to DeSantis' desk before the session closed.

The new legislation strengthens employment requirements, bans local governments from contributing money to organizations creating identification cards for undocumented immigrants, bars driver’s licenses issued to non-citizens in other states from use in Florida and requires that companies with 25 or more employees use the federal E-Verify system when hiring workers to verify their employee's status.

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Drag shows, LGBTQ community, and diversity, equity and inclusion

Republican lawmakers filed more than a dozen bills that directly or indirectly target transgender Floridians and in some cases the broader LGBTQ community, a group that makes up less than 5% of Florida’s adult population, according to a 2019 Gallup/Williams poll.

The majority of the bills target national hot-button topics, like what public bathrooms transgender people are allowed to use, targeting drag shows and restricting access to gender-affirming care for minors.

SB 1438 bans children from attending live performances that aren’t “age-appropriate.” Critics say that the bill’s vague language would be used to target family-friendly drag shows and Pride events. Some Pride events have already been canceled.

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HB 1521 criminalizes transgender Floridians from using public bathrooms matching their gender identity.

SB 1580 allows state medical professionals to refuse to carry out health care services if they conflict with their religious beliefs or moral convictions. Opponents worry the measure could lead to medical discrimination, especially against the LBGTQ community.

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And SB 254 puts more teeth to Florida’s ban on gender-affirming care for minors and adds some restrictions to the care for adults. Critics call this bill the Florida “abduction” bill because it would effectively let courts modify out-of-state custody agreements by allowing dissenting parents to petition courts to take “emergency jurisdiction” of their child if they received gender-affirming care or are “threatened” with gender-affirming care.

Florida House Republicans also approved SB 266, a bill that bans funding for diversity, equity and inclusion programs and restricts teaching about race and gender on college campuses.

DeSantis has yet to sign any of these measures.

DeSantis versus Disney

DeSantis’ feud with Disney requires its own story, and even that might be too long for most to read through in a single sitting.

The feud between DeSantis and Disney began in March 2022 after he signed the Parental Rights in Education Act, also dubbed the “Don’t Say Gay” bill by opponents.

Soon after, Disney, who is one of Florida’s top employers, came under fire from the Florida Democratic Party and its LGBTQ employees who staged a walkout due to the company’s silence on the issue.

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Disney relented and became a target after then-CEO Bob Chapek began to lobby against the legislation.

"I called Governor DeSantis this morning to express our disappointment and concern that if legislation becomes law it could be used to target gay, lesbian, nonbinary and transgender kids and families," Chapek told Disney shareholders in a March 2022 meeting.

Afterward, DeSantis lashed out at Disney to a group of supporters in a video obtained by Fox News Digital. "You have companies like a Disney that are gonna say and criticize parents' rights, they're gonna criticize the fact that we don't want transgenderism in kindergarten and first grade classrooms,” he said. "If that's the hill that they're gonna die on, then how do they possibly explain lining their pockets with their relationship with the Communist Party of China?”

Disney announced that it was pausing all political donations in the state of Florida and pledged to fight the bill in a Tweet on March 28.

The fight heated up in April when DeSantis announced a special session to repeal Disney’s special district, the Reedy Creek Improvement District, a 25,000-acre district spanning two counties that was created in 1967 to give Disney control over their property and allowed Disney to collect taxes, follow its own building codes and provide emergency services for its six theme parks and resorts.

The Legislation took 48 hours to write, debate and approve the bill SB 4, which dissolves Disney's Reedy Creek Improvement District as of June 1, 2023. DeSantis signed it the next day and warned of more consequences if Disney did not also dismantle its diversity and inclusion program.

The feud continued to escalate, resulting in Disney suing DeSantis for ‘unconstitutional’ and ‘retaliatory’ acts on April 26. The lawsuit alleges five different violations of Disney’s constitutional rights by DeSantis, including two free speech violations, a property rights violation, a due process violation and a violation of the contracts clause.

This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Gov. DeSantis to make presidential bid, Florida could be his blueprint