DeSantis 2024 Bid Suddenly Hits a Roadblock – This Florida Law Could Stop Him from Running for President
Even though he hasn’t officially declared a 2024 bid, most people expect Florida Governor Ron DeSantis to run for President.
He’s widely expected to be former President Donald Trump’s primary competition, and many Republican leaders are indicating they’d rather vote for the Florida chief.
However, there’s a roadblock in the way — and unless it’s changed, it could prevent DeSantis from running at all.
Nobody is talking about it much, but there’s a Florida state law that says DeSantis can only run for President if he does something first. And it isn’t something the GOP star is likely to do.
There are plenty of rules and regulations surrounding an official presidential bid. Certain qualifications must be met, and each state has its own rules.
And in Florida, it seems DeSantis won’t be able to run unless he gives up his lofty position in the Sunshine State. That’s a tough order, as he’s arguably the most popular governor in the nation right now.
Via The Daily Caller:
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is widely expected to run for president in 2024, but a state law bars him from doing so if he doesn’t resign as governor first.
The state’s legislative session began Tuesday, and a long list of bills are already on the docket for the next two months, except for a bill that would target the Resign-to-Run law, Florida’s Speaker of the House’s office confirmed with the Daily Caller News Foundation.
The law in question demands that DeSantis resign as Governor before he’s allowed to launch a presidential bid.
The legislature has to clarify what the qualifications are, though, and time is running short: many assume DeSantis is going to make his final decision after the current legislative session ends in May.
So, the state has to figure this out before that time.
The Resign-to-Run law was changed back in 2007 when the governor at the time, Charlie Crist, wanted to run for Vice President.
Then it was changed back again in 2018, which effectively stopped elected officials from seeking federal office before resigning in Florida. This is the issue DeSantis faces now.
The state legislature now aims to “clean up” the gray area of the bill with a new amendment, which will explain in detail what the qualifications and restrictions are.
Former Florida Republican Party executive director Jaime Miller thinks they’ll say a candidate can’t qualify for President until they’re nominated by the GOP. A lobbyist from Tallahassee added:
I think the legislature is going to fix it to say that he would not have to resign until he took the oath of office for the presidency, and therefore, if he’s unsuccessful, he could come back and serve as governor.
You don’t want to disincentivize a sitting governor from running for the presidency for fear that ‘if I lose the presidency, then I can’t serve out my term as governor.’
The problem is, they’re only looking for a clarification so it’s not high on the legislature’s priority list.
This means the law stays in place until then, which could present a real time crunch issue for DeSantis. The Governor has said multiple times that he loves being the state leader.
If he has to sacrifice his Governorship to run for President, he might think twice about a campaign. After all, as one of the most popular elected officials in the country, he’s well loved in Florida.
And if there’s no clarification on the legislation, that could tell us immediately if DeSantis is running.
Former GOP Congressional Candidate and Miami-Dade County advisory board member Bryan Leib said, “if you don’t see anything within the next couple of weeks,” that’s a clue that DeSantis is not going to run.
If this happens, it’s likely that Trump will be the immediate favorite for the Republican nomination.
That isn’t what many GOP leaders want, though, and a lot of American citizens have been angling away from the former POTUS in recent months. Losing DeSantis would be a blow to their 2024 chances, they believe.
We’ll just have to wait and see what happens with this law.
Key Takeaways:
- A Florida state law could stop Gov. Ron DeSantis from running for President in 2024.
- The law needs to be clarified by the legislature; it currently says DeSantis would have to resign as Governor before running.
- Experts say if no clarification is added in the coming weeks, this is a sign that DeSantis won’t announce a campaign for POTUS.
Source: The Daily Caller