UNITED STATES. Florida: Ron DeSantis, the governor of Florida, will engage in old-school retail politics in important early voting states this week after making his presidential campaign debut online. This will be his first opportunity to interact with voters since announcing his bid to run for the Republican nomination in 2024.
DeSantis will campaign for two days in Iowa before making stops in South Carolina and New Hampshire. This tour will be closely monitored to see if the policy-focused, reserved governor can demonstrate the interpersonal qualities that his detractors have stated he lacks.
The Republican front-runner in the contest, former President Donald Trump, will be immediately behind him. Trump holding events in Iowa on the same day DeSantis campaigned in New Hampshire is a hint that the race for the nomination is ready to heat up.
On Tuesday, DeSantis will conduct a kickoff event in Des Moines, Iowa, in place of the traditional campaign rally he eschewed in favour of announcing his candidature in a virtual forum on Twitter with its owner, Elon Musk, which was fraught with technical difficulties. Trump and other adversaries mocked the fiasco.
For DeSantis, Iowa is a crucial state. The nation’s first nominating contest will take place in Iowa in February of next year, a state with a sizable evangelical constituency that has occasionally clashed with Trump. Senator Ted Cruz of the United States defeated Trump in the 2016 caucuses.
Nomination contests will be held in New Hampshire and South Carolina in the weeks after.
Since making his decision, DeSantis has contended that he is the only Republican who can defeat Democratic President Joe Biden, who defeated Trump in the 2020 election, and has bemoaned what he terms a “culture of losing” in the party.
DeSantis has intensified his attacks on Trump, alleging that during his one term in office, Trump departed from conservative ideals by supporting immigration reform and forceful anti-COVID epidemic measures.
DeSantis’ campaign reported raising $8.2 million on the first day of his launch, indicating that he will have significant financial support from party donors hoping to prevent Trump from gaining the nomination.
Also Read: Ron DeSantis to Launch His 2024 Presidential Bid on Twitter with CEO Musk
