Ron DeSantis won the Florida gubernatorial election by a wide margin over his rival, Democrat Charlie Crist, getting nearly 60% of the vote.
The Florida governor, who began his political career in 2012 as a representative in the House, succeeded in consolidating the Sunshine State as the second most populous Republican stronghold in the country, earning nearly five million votes. Above all, he continues his meteoric rise in the Republican Party.
It should be remembered that just four years ago, DeSantis won as governor by less than half of a percentage point over his then-rival, Andrew Gillum. This time around, he defeated his new rival by a margin of more than twenty points. DeSantis managed to win in Miami-Dade County, the state's most populous county, which a Republican gubernatorial candidate hadn't won for 20 years.
DeSantis took advantage of his comfortable victory to insist on his defense of freedom and his fight against the woke agenda.
DeSantis' aspirations in the Republican Party
It was clear that Ron DeSantis is a persuasive politician. His strong appeal to the Hispanic community serves as an example. In heavily Hispanic Osceola County, DeSantis garnered 39% of the vote in 2018 and 53% this Nov. 8. In 2020, Trump only won 43% of the vote in this county.
With these numbers, analysts and other Republican Party members see DeSantis as a possible candidate for president in 2024. However, the question remains as to how a hypothetical race against Donald Trump would look in the event that the former president decides to run again. Speculation is building in the lead up to the former president's portentous announcement on Nov. 15.
At the moment, it seems that Trump is not seduced by the idea of seeing DeSantis as the Republican candidate for president. It remains to be seen how the Republican Party handles an internal struggle between two charismatic leaders.
