Defunct Newspapers Journals TV channels Websites Other Congressional caucuses Economics Gun rights Identity politics Nativist Religion Watchdog groups Youth/student groups Social media Miscellaneous Other Ronald Dion DeSantis (/dɪˈsæntɪs, diː-/; born September 14, 1978) is an American politician and former naval officer serving as the 46th governor of Florida since 2019.

After graduating from Yale University and Harvard Law School, DeSantis joined the U.S. Navy in 2004 and was promoted to lieutenant before serving as a legal advisor to SEAL Team One.

Later that year, he reported to the JAG Trial Service Office Command South East at Naval Station Mayport, Florida, as a prosecutor.

[39] In 2007, DeSantis reported to the Naval Special Warfare Command Group in Coronado, California, where he was assigned as a legal adviser to SEAL Team One; he deployed to Iraq in the fall of 2007 as part of the troop surge.

He said this legislation would also give students "access to federal loan money to put towards non-traditional educational opportunities, such as online learning courses, vocational schools, and apprenticeships in skilled trades".

[77] DeSantis said that the debate over how to reduce the federal deficit should shift emphasis from tax increases to curtailing spending and triggering economic growth.

[81] DeSantis endorsed the REINS Act, which would have required that regulations significantly affecting the economy be subject to a vote of Congress before taking effect.

[107] DeSantis's gubernatorial platform included support for legislation that would allow people with concealed weapons permits to carry firearms openly.

[109][110][111] The day after his primary win, in a televised Fox News interview, DeSantis said, "The last thing we need to do is to monkey this up by trying to embrace a socialist agenda with huge tax increases and bankrupting the state."

[116][117][118][119] Dexter Filkins, writing in The New Yorker in 2022, called it a "disastrous gaffe," and quoted an unnamed ally of DeSantis lamenting that afterward, "We were handling Gillum with kid gloves.

[133] Crist heavily criticized DeSantis's decision to transport illegal immigrants to Democratic states, arguing that it was human rights abuse.

[147][148] The same day,[149] he officially suspended Broward County sheriff Scott Israel, ostensibly for his responses to the mass shootings at the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, appointing Gregory Tony to replace him.

[160] In June 2019, DeSantis signed a $91.1 billion budget the legislature passed the previous month, which was the largest in state history at the time, though he cut $131 million in appropriations.

"[177][178][179][180] On August 18, 2022, federal judge Mark E. Walker blocked enforcement of the act as applied to businesses, ruling that it violated the First Amendment and was impermissibly vague.

"[182] DeSantis expressed support for the Voting Rights Restoration for Felons Initiative after it passed in November 2018, saying he was "obligated to faithfully implement [it] as it is defined" when he became governor.

[191] After the U.S. Supreme Court decided Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, which overturned Roe v. Wade, DeSantis pledged to "expand pro-life protections".

[194] The law was expected to go into effect on July 1, 2022,[195] but a state judge blocked its enforcement, ruling that it violated the right to privacy guaranteed by the Florida Constitution.

[209][210] DeSantis supported Elon Musk's acquisition of Twitter, believing "it illegal for tech platforms to block or demote content that might otherwise run afoul of their terms of service".

This infringes on Floridians' First Amendment rights to share and access speech online", and that "the Supreme Court has made clear that the government lacks the 'free-floating power to restrict the ideas to which children may be exposed'".

[216][217] Florida's age-adjusted death rate, which takes its disproportionately elderly population into account, was roughly near the median among states as of 2021, and a 2022 study placed it at the nation's 12th lowest.

[218][217][219] By 2023, many political scientists acknowledged that DeSantis's management of the pandemic may have benefited him in his reelection campaign, and he was credited with turning "his coronavirus policies into a parable of American freedom".

[222] In February 2022, DeSantis voiced support for the Florida Parental Rights in Education Act (HB1557), commonly known as the "Don't Say Gay" law, which prohibits discussion of sexual orientation or gender identity in school classrooms from kindergarten to grade 3.

[232] In April 2022, DeSantis signed a bill eliminating the company's special independent district act and replacing its Disney-appointed board of overseers.

[248] DeSantis had argued for this legislation by citing the George Floyd protests of 2020 and the 2021 United States Capitol attack, although only the former was mentioned at the signing ceremony.

[254] At a press event in September 2024, he defended the unit's visits to the homes of Florida voters who had signed an abortion rights ballot initiative.

[264] In 2021, DeSantis halted cooperation with the Biden administration's program to relocate and resettle migrants in Florida in the wake of a surge in illegal immigration.

[276] In addition, DeSantis partnered with Elon Musk, CEO of SpaceX and Tesla, Inc., to use the Starlink satellite Internet service to help restore communication across the state.

At the same time, he questioned climate science, supported fossil fuels, opposed renewables, and sanctioned firms for considering environmental issues in their investments.

[283] In June 2024, DeSantis vetoed a bill passed by the State House that would have created a statewide process managed by the Department of Health to issue closures and send warnings if the bacteria in waterways reached unsafe levels.

[290][291][292] These ideas gained more traction after the 2022 midterm elections, when DeSantis was reelected governor by almost 20 percentage points, while Trump-endorsed candidates, such as Mehmet Oz in the Senate race in Pennsylvania, performed poorly.