DeSantis Made Florida Richer, Now He’s Making It Redder
The potential presidential contender has remodeled his state as a conservative citadel, even as Republicans grow fearful of alienating moderate voters
Ron DeSantis on stage at Liberty University in Virginia last week.
Photographer: Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call/Getty ImagesRon DeSantis has a plan to outmaneuver Donald Trump: Push Florida — and the Republican party — further to the right than ever. Some in the GOP are growing fearful he’s going too far.
The 44-year-old governor has orchestrated one of the most abrupt conservative takeovers of state government in modern US history, making a one-time swing state center stage in the the country’s culture wars. Last week, DeSantis signed a bill that prohibits abortion in Florida after six weeks of pregnancy, among the tightest restrictions put in place since the Supreme Court overturned the federal right to abortion last year.