Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis joins presidential race, taking on Trump for GOP nomination

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis officially filed paperwork Wednesday to motorboat his 2024 statesmanlike campaign, mounting the Republican contender connected a collision people with erstwhile President Donald Trump successful the contention for the GOP nomination.

DeSantis is acceptable to personally denote his tally during a Twitter Spaces speech with Elon Musk astatine 6 p.m. ET connected Wednesday.

The long-anticipated determination marks the culmination of years of buzz astir DeSantis, 44, whose absorption to Covid-era lockdown rules and willingness to prosecute successful polarizing taste fights person rapidly made him a Republican darling.

It besides makes authoritative DeSantis' simmering rivalry with Trump, burying their once-close narration arsenic immoderate successful the GOP look to regenerate the erstwhile president arsenic their party's modular bearer.

Trump has already pummeled the politician with relentless attacks for months. Trump and his allies person assailed DeSantis' record, his governmental abilities and adjacent his personality, portion amplifying antagonistic quality astir the governor. One pro-Trump PAC adjacent chopped an advertisement depicting an anecdote astir DeSantis eating pudding with his fingers, which the politician has denied.

Read more: DeSantis brings past of concern battles to statesmanlike campaign

Trump's aggression whitethorn person paid off. Polls of the imaginable superior tract person showed DeSantis, erstwhile Trump's adjacent competitor, consistently losing ground for months, adjacent arsenic the politician toured cardinal battlegrounds and racked up policy wins with his state's GOP-held Legislature.

A Quinnipiac University poll released earlier Wednesday underscored the governor's slide: Republican and GOP-leaning voters chose Trump implicit DeSantis by much than a two-to-one margin, 56% to 25%, successful a matchup of the hypothetical superior field. That effect showed Trump extending his gains and DeSantis losing crushed from a previous Quinnipiac survey successful precocious March.

The determination was hardly a surprise: DeSantis has been eyed arsenic a 2024 statesmanlike contender adjacent before the extremity of the 2020 predetermination cycle. While helium has been mostly tight-lipped astir his statesmanlike ambitions, the politician successful caller months has published a political memoir, hosted events for donors and blimpish groups, embarked connected a multi-state speaking circuit and released campaign-style videos touting his achievements successful Florida.

In the meantime, his allies person been hard astatine enactment mounting a well-funded governmental operation that has acted arsenic a de facto run for the governor's impending statesmanlike bid.

The ace PAC Never Back Down, founded by erstwhile Trump medication authoritative Ken Cuccinelli, has already raised tens of millions of dollars arsenic it encouraged DeSantis to tally for president. A idiosyncratic acquainted with the group's activities confirmed to CNBC that it is expecting to enactment with an wide operating fund of astatine slightest $200 million.

That figure, archetypal reported by The New York Times, could see much than $80 cardinal that DeSantis' allies are expected to effort to determination retired of the governor's aged state-level governmental committee — a arguable transportation that has divided run concern experts.

A Yale- and Harvard-educated lawyer, DeSantis was elected to the U.S. House successful 2012 and became a founding subordinate of the blimpish Freedom Caucus earlier resigning to tally for politician of Florida successful 2018.

Trump endorsed DeSantis successful that gubernatorial primary, giving DeSantis a polling bump and starring him to chopped an advertisement featuring his household embracing an array of Trump's governmental slogans and catchphrases. DeSantis' closeness to Trump went beyond conscionable his rhetoric, with critics noting that the governor's assemblage connection and manus gestures seemed to mirror Trump's astatine times.

DeSantis handily won the superior and went connected to narrowly decision Democrat Andrew Gillum successful the wide election.

As governor, DeSantis' populist rhetoric and absorption connected divisive societal issues rapidly gained him a nationalist reputation.

During the coronavirus pandemic, DeSantis pushed faster than different states to assistance nationalist health-related lockdown measures, arguing that the closures had harmed Florida's economy. Those and different moves coincided with an influx of caller residents to the state, but drew the ire of wellness experts and section officials, particularly erstwhile Covid cases aboriginal surged.

DeSantis besides courted contention erstwhile helium joined GOP efforts to protestation President Joe Biden's borderline policies by flying planeloads of migrants to the Massachusetts land of Martha's Vineyard.

Meanwhile, his enactment for a arguable measure limiting treatment of enactment and sex successful nationalist schools, dubbed "Don't Say Gay" by critics, has morphed into an ongoing combat with Disney that has lasted good implicit a year.

Disney, 1 of Florida's largest employers, publically opposed the bill, joining critics who argued its vague connection could pb to the targeting and marginalization of LGBTQ teachers and kids. DeSantis and his allies responded to Disney's disapproval by targeting Walt Disney World's long-held peculiar taxation territory and vowing to extremity the "corporate kingdom." Disney has since sued DeSantis and others successful national court, accusing the politician of orchestrating a run of governmental retribution against the company.

In a authorities wherever colonisation is increasing but Democratic registration has fallen, DeSantis' absorption to Covid information rules and his perceived left-wing governmental foes were mightily rewarded. He trounced his Democratic opponent, erstwhile Rep. Charlie Crist, successful Florida's 2022 gubernatorial election, winning by much than 20 percent points.

This time, helium did it with virtually nary assistance from Trump.

Polls consistently amusement Trump and DeSantis are by acold the 2 astir competitory names successful the imaginable Republican superior field, though caller surveys amusement Trump pulling distant from the pack.

With DeSantis' illustration connected the rise, Trump's presumption of the politician has soured. Shortly aft the November midterms, Trump wailed astatine "Ron DeSanctimonious," 1 of respective wonky nicknames for DeSantis, on with "Ron DeSanctus" and, reportedly, "Meatball Ron."

Trump has been damaged by his nonaccomplishment to Biden, the fallout from the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot and the underperformance of galore of his handpicked candidates successful the midterms. Yet contempt those bruises — and his escalating ineligible woes, including his indictment successful a Manhattan hush wealth lawsuit and being recovered liable for sexual maltreatment and defamation successful different lawsuit — Trump is the Republican Party's existent apical prime for 2024.