Florida

Listen to “DeSantis Rising” on Spreaker.

In November, Ron DeSantis was in the midst of a national political drama, as Florida officials conducted a recount to determine whether his slim victory would hold up.  Now, just two months into the job, DeSantis is piling up a flurry of accomplishments and winning praise from across the political spectrum.

“He eventually won by 32,000 votes or 0.4 percent of the vote.  He kind of went off the radar. but what this man has been doing off the radar is just amazing in terms of what he’s trying to do and what he’s accomplished and he’s getting kudos on both sides for being so energetic and so successful,” said syndicated columnist and National Review Contributing Editor Deroy Murdock.

Since taking office in January, DeSantis has replaced three Florida Supreme Court justices who were term-limited by age and worked to remove burdensome government mandates to get licensed for certain jobs.  He also accepted the resignations of two elections officials at the center of last year’s vote-counting mess.  DeSantis also removed Broward County Cheriff Scott Israel over his performance before, during, and after the school shooting in Parkland.

The governor has also gone to bat for hurricane survivors to the federal government.  He’s also ended Common Core education policies and thrilled partisans of all stripes in replacing the members of an important water commission in hopes of cleaning up the environment.

DeSantis served in the U.S. House of Representatives before winning the governor’s office over Democrat Andrew Gillum.  Murdock says that’s not an easy shift to navigate.

“I’ve seen very few people make that transition from Congress to becoming an executive as effectively and as swiftly as he has.  It’s really quite stunning,” said Murdock.

Murdock believes DeSantis ultimately won the election because of his support for school choice, a position that won him 18 percent of the vote from black women who want more options for their kids.  Not only did that help DeSantis, but Murdock thinks it’s a road map for other GOP candidates.

“If he can keep this us, it’s a model for other Republicans to go out in the black community, push school choice which is very important.  Just ask black parents, ‘You tend to vote Democrat.  How are those Democrat-run schools doing?  how’s your Democrat school board doing?  Are your kids learning anything?” said Murdock.

Listen to the full podcast to hear how DeSantis is not only soaring above 60 percent approval in the state, how well he is doing among voters usually repelled by the GOP, and whether the popularity of DeSantis can help President Trump in 2020.