The writing's on the wall for DeSantis. It's time to go back to being Florida governor.
DeSantis was never going to be the nominee as long as Trump stayed in the race. At least Haley offers something different. DeSantis is just Trump Lite.
As Republicans in New Hampshire are mulling over their presidential candidate choices, they may begin to wonder where Ron DeSantis went.
On Wednesday, a campaign official told Politico that the Florida governor and second-place finisher in the Iowa caucuses will be ignoring the state ahead of Tuesday's primary. It makes sense – new polling data from Suffolk University/NBC10 Boston/Boston Globe has DeSantis polling at a meager 6% in New Hampshire, while former President Donald Trump and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley are at 50% and 36%, respectively.
A year ago, DeSantis might have been the only presidential candidate who could win over Trump’s base of voters and, therefore, the Republican nomination. Polls showed him ahead of the former president in December 2022. Now, the writing on the wall is coming into view: It’s time for him to go back to Florida, and let the rest of us forget about him, at least until 2028.
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Instead of New Hampshire, DeSantis will be heading back to the South to put his efforts toward South Carolina, a state where he is also polling in third place with 12% of the vote. In Texas, one of the few states comparable to Florida in terms of population and voting demographics, he’s polling at 7%.
Even in his home state, the Florida governor is trailing Trump by more than 40 percentage points.
DeSantis blames media for Iowa loss, not the clear results of his campaign
DeSantis has tried to blame the news media for his second-place finish in Iowa because national outlets called the race for Trump before every polling place closed. He has also said that his early strategy of avoiding journalists altogether has hindered his performance.
The reality he’s avoiding, however, is that he was never going to be the nominee as long as Trump stayed in the race.
At least Haley, who's also a former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, offers something different through (relatively) more moderate policies. DeSantis, on the other hand, has shaped himself in Trump’s image. His crusade against “woke" ideology in Florida was an effort to engage the ugliest tendencies of the MAGA crowd, the types that would rather pick on people who are different than discuss small government and economic conservatism.
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I, for one, am grateful that DeSantis’ time in the political limelight might be coming to an end. For years, the Florida governor has been waging a culture war within his own state that has negatively impacted the LGBTQ+ community and demanded the state’s education system whitewash the history of our country.
It also could have exhausted Republican voters looking for a Trump alternative.
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I’m also aware that DeSantis is just Trump Lite – a man without the celebrity status and general notoriety that has propped the former president up for years, a candidate whose only real appeal to voters was that he didn't have Trump's legal baggage.
I’m dreading the reality of a Trump nomination, but it is our reality. He’s lightyears ahead of both DeSantis and Haley in the polls, in spite of 91 felony charges against him across four states, ongoing lawsuits and multiple states challenging his eligibility. At least Haley presents an option for something different.
For DeSantis, though, it’s time to go back to governing the Sunshine State. Maybe he can try again in the next election cycle. But given how his campaign fizzled out this year, I doubt he will want to or that voters will be interested.
Follow USA TODAY elections columnist Sara Pequeño on X, formerly Twitter, @sara__pequeno and Facebook facebook.com/PequenoWrites