DeSantis Is Wrapping Up His Conservative Legislative Agenda, Closing In On Presidential Bid

DeSantis Is Wrapping Up His Conservative Legislative Agenda, Closing In On Presidential Bid

Mary Lou Masters on May 1, 2023

• Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is wrapping up his legislative session where he was able to push through a long list of conservative bills ahead of an expected presidential bid.
• DeSantis signed several bills relating to abortion, gun rights, school choice, the death penalty and plenty more that will give him a strong platform to stand on if he enters the GOP primaries, several Florida Republican operatives told the Daily Caller News Foundation.
• “We all expected him to attempt to rack up as many wins as he could throughout [the] session, and I think we can say objectively on a conservative level…he did get a ton of wins,” Ben Torpey, Republican political consultant out of Florida, told the DCNF.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is wrapping up his two-month-long legislative session filled with conservative agenda items, giving him a strong leg to stand on ahead of an expected presidential announcement, several Florida Republican operatives told the Daily Caller News Foundation.

Florida’s legislative session ends on Friday, and DeSantis has been able to get through a large swath of GOP-backed legislation regarding abortion, gun rights, school choice, the death penalty, among others. DeSantis will end the “historic” session with a strong conservative record that will serve him well as he is highly anticipated to head into the Republican primaries, the operatives told the DCNF.

“He is going to have the most conservative policy arrows in his quiver than anybody else on the stage,” a source familiar with the governor’s plans told the DCNF. “If the governor decides to launch a presidential campaign he’s going to have an even greater conservative arsenal of policies to challenge the other Republican candidates with because of this legislative session – his agenda really dominated the session.”

DeSantis signed the Heartbeat Protection Act into law on April 13 that bans abortion after six-weeks with exceptions for rape, incest, human trafficking and the mother’s life. The legislation further restricts the state’s abortion policy, as it previously was set for 15 weeks gestation.

Florida joined 25 other states when the governor signed permitless concealed carry, or “Constitutional Carry,” into law on April 3. DeSantis strengthened Floridians’ Second Amendment rights by granting them permission to carry a firearm without a license so long as they have an ID on their person that can readily be given to law enforcement when asked.

DeSantis also signed a universal school choice program into law on March 27, which established Education Savings Accounts that provide any family up to $8,000 for educational expenses outside of public schools. Vouchers will be granted first to families of four that make under $51,000 a year, making Florida the sixth state to enact universal school choice in the last two years.

The governor signed legislation on April 20 making it easier for those convicted of capital crimes to receive the death penalty. The law enables these criminals to be sentenced to death without the requirement of the jury’s unanimous consent; Florida previously required all 12 jurors to agree to the death penalty in order for it to be imposed, but under this law, only two-thirds majority of eight jurors are required.

Today, I signed legislation ensuring the victims of the most heinous crimes get justice.

Once a defendant in a capital case is found guilty by a unanimous jury, one juror should not be able to veto a capital sentence. pic.twitter.com/77KeG6H3RN

— Ron DeSantis (@GovRonDeSantis) April 20, 2023

DeSantis also signed a tort reform bill on March 24 that reduces “frivolous lawsuits,” and the Legislature passed a bill prohibiting businesses from allowing children to attend adult drag shows, as well as election legislation that clarifiesFlorida’s resign-to-run law that would’ve required the governor to resign before running for president. The governor could also receive several other conservative bills to sign in the coming weeks, like expanding the Parental Rights in Education bill to prohibit the use of pronouns when they aren’t consistent with the person’s sex.

“We all expected him to attempt to rack up as many wins as he could throughout [the] session, and I think we can say objectively on a conservative level…he did get a ton of wins,” Ben Torpey, Republican political consultant out of Florida, told the DCNF. “I definitely think that what has been done has set him up to launch, it’s just difficult to call it a perfect launch, or is it enough?”

While DeSantis will have a strong, conservative record to stand on as he likely enters the presidential race, Torpey and Jaime Miller, former executive director of the Florida Republican Party, aren’t sure the legislative session is enough, they told the DCNF. They believe the governor needs to work on his “retail politics” and “personal touch” if he wants to be a successful Republican presidential contender.

“You have to campaign to be president, so when you’re campaigning, you have to call people, you have to wish them well, you call them in the hospital, you send them flowers when there’s a death in the family,” said Miller. “Those things matter. They matter to people in the community, they matter to people’s families and they matter to the elected official, and if he’s unwilling to do those things, that’s a problem.”

Torpey noted how DeSantis’ team made calls to Florida representatives to court endorsements rather than the governor calling himself, and mentioned former President Donald Trump’s strong retail politics. Miller also cited DeSantis’ lack of outreach, and recalled how Rep. Greg Steube, who recently endorsed Trump, did not receive a call from DeSantis when he was in the hospital after falling off of a ladder, but the former president reached out to check in.

“All of that is just campaign spin by the opposition,” a source familiar with the governor’s plans told the DCNF. “What’s clearly the position is that this is a two man race, and Trump is afraid that DeSantis is going to gain momentum, because the reality is that Trump’s attacks on DeSantis is not resonating with Republican primary voters.”

While some have speculated that DeSantis will launch an exploratory committee prior to announcing a run for president, he hasn’t made a decision yet, according to a source familiar with the governor’s plans.

“A decision of whether or not to launch an exploratory committee or simply announce will be made over the next couple of weeks, and an announcement could come as early as the end of the month or first part of June,” the source familiar with the governor’s plans told the DCNF.