On Friday, GOP Rep. Ron DeSantis finally announced his long planned bid for governor of Florida. DeSantis' allied PAC has been raising money for a campaign for months, and Donald Trump ended any ambiguity about the congressman's plans just before Christmas when he endorsed DeSantis over Twitter.
DeSantis' main opponent in the late August primary is likely to be state Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam, who has been raising money for years to run to succeed termed-out Gov. Rick Scott. Putnam tried to tie himself to Trump in the early days of the campaign, but he's switched tactics a bit since then and is portraying the contest as a choice between a local Floridian and a D.C. insider. Putnam's campaign declared that, while he announced his own bid at his hometown in Bartow, "Washington insider Ron DeSantis wore a freshly pressed and tailored suit in an empty television studio this morning to inform broadcasters in New York of his intent to seek a promotion."
However, Putnam certainly knows he's particularly vulnerable to being tagged as a dreaded political insider. Putnam won his first race in 1996 at the age of 22, and he's held elected office ever since. Putnam was even in the House leadership for a time, and DeSantis and his allies may try tagging him as the real D.C. insider.
But DeSantis hasn't hesitated to try and take advantage of his own national profile and connections. After he served as a Navy JAG officer, DeSantis became a conservative author who managed to get in quite a few appearances on Fox News. DeSantis used his minor celebrity status to jumpstart his successful 2012 bid for a House seat south of Jacksonville, and he's continued to appear on Fox parroting far-right talking points and defending Trump. DeSantis' presence on national TV not only helped him earn Trump's affection and endorsement, it's brought him into contact with conservative billionaires who like what they're hearing from him. And sure enough, DeSantis launched his campaign on Fox & Friends.
DeSantis' alliance with Trump and his long history of far-right rhetoric should be an asset in the primary, but it could be a huge liability in a general election. Trump did narrowly carry Florida, but he's unpopular here in November, it would be very easy for Democrats to tie DeSantis to the White House. DeSantis, a member of the far-right House Freedom Caucus, also has plenty of statements and voters that may play great to primary voters but poorly to a general electorate.
Last cycle, Senate Republicans also sounded wary about having DeSantis as their nominee. DeSantis was one of several Republicans who kicked off bids to succeed Marco Rubio while he was running for president. However, after Rubio's own campaign went bust, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and his allies spent months convincing the initially reluctant senator to seek re-election anyway. Reportedly, GOP strategists and Senate Republicans felt that the crop of candidates running to succeed Rubio was weak, and while Rubio was still bruises from his recent losses, they felt he'd be a manifestly better nominee. Both Rubio and DeSantis ended up running for re-election to their current seats that year and winning.