Campaign Report
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Campaign Report
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Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis spent last Saturday barnstorming Iowa, moved his political shop into a new office on Monday and has begun coordinating an event in Miami with donors and top supporters. A 2024 campaign launch appears imminent.
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© AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall
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The exact details of when and how DeSantis will kick off his White House campaign aren’t yet clear, but The Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday that the governor is expected to file paperwork with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) next week, coinciding with his planned donor meeting in Miami on May 25.
It will be a major moment for DeSantis, who’s been expected for months to seek the White House but has said little publicly about his plans. The move will also put him in direct contention with former President Donald Trump, who’s already spent months attacking DeSantis in an effort to define the governor and weaken him before his campaign officially gets off the ground.
DeSantis was always expected to wait until after the Florida state legislature wrapped up its annual session to launch a campaign. But that session ended on May 6, and DeSantis’s allies have grown increasingly eager for a formal announcement, arguing that he simply can’t continue to dance around his presidential ambitions.
To be sure, DeSantis won’t be starting from scratch if and when he launches his presidential bid. He already has the support of a well-heeled super PAC, Never Back Down, which has been laying the groundwork for a national political operation in crucial primary states and running ads seeking to punch back against Trump’s attacks.
The group has also begun rounding up key endorsements; on Wednesday alone, 99 of the 113 Republicans in the Florida state legislature came out in support of the governor.
And in another sign that DeSantis is putting together a campaign team, his press secretary Bryan Griffin resigned from the governor’s office to take on a new role with Desantis’s political team.
Of course, DeSantis will have quite a bit of ground to make up in the 2024 race. Trump is polling well ahead of the Florida governor and is still far and away the favorite to win the GOP nomination. DeSantis and his allies have pushed back on the notion that his prospects have slipped in recent months, arguing that he’s not actually a candidate yet.
If he announces a campaign next week, however, that argument will go out the window.
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Welcome to The Hill’s Campaign Report, we’re Max Greenwood and Caroline Vakil. Each week we track the key stories you need to know to stay ahead of the 2024 election and who will set the agenda in Washington.
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Key election stories and other recent campaign coverage:
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Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has appointed former Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) as the campaign manager for his 2024 primary challenge to President Biden. “Dennis Kucinich has brought invaluable electoral experience to our campaign,” Kennedy said in a statement. “He knows how the system works from the inside out, and his deep knowledge of issues and his personal integrity are fully aligned with the core values our …
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Businessman Yemi Mobolade will be the first Black and first non-Republican elected mayor of Colorado Springs, Colo., after defeating a longtime Republican state politician in Tuesday’s runoff election. Unofficial results in the race showed Mobolade, a politically unaffiliated candidate who founded restaurants and a business consulting company in the Colorado Springs area, defeating Republican Wayne Williams, who has served …
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South Dakota Sen. Mike Rounds (R) says he will endorse Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) for president, becoming the first Republican senator to publicly endorse a candidate other than Donald Trump for president in 2024. Rounds told The Washington Examiner on Wednesday that he has committed to backing Scott, who is expected to formally announce his campaign for president Monday in Charleston, S.C. “I …
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Upcoming news themes and events we’re watching:
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- 149 days until Louisiana’s gubernatorial election
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173 days until Kentucky’s and Mississippi’s gubernatorial generals
- 537 days until the 2024 general election
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Sen. Tim Scott notches early endorsement
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Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) officially has his first 2024 congressional endorsement.
Sen. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) threw his support behind Scott’s presidential bid on Wednesday, telling the Washington Examiner in an interview that the South Carolina senator is “the closest to Ronald Trump that you’re going to see” in the 2024 presidential field.
Scott has already formed an exploratory committee in preparation for a White House bid. He’s expected to make his intentions official on Monday, when he’ll hold an event in North Charleston, S.C. to kick off his campaign.
But he’ll have a lot of ground to make up in the endorsement race. Rounds is the first of Scott’s colleagues to back him for the GOP nomination. Trump, meanwhile, has the support of nearly a dozen senators and more than 50 House members, while DeSantis is backed by just four members of Congress: Reps. Laurel Lee (R-Fla.), Chip Roy (R-Texas), Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) and Bob Good (R-Va.).
Early polling shows Scott’s support in the nascent 2024 Republican primary still mired in the single digits.
Yet he’s intent on charging forward with his campaign. Scott is heading to Iowa next month to participate in Sen. Joni Ernst’s (R-Iowa) annual Roast and Ride fundraiser, joining a handful of rivals, including former Vice President Mike Pence, former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy.
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The burgeoning 2024 Republican presidential primary field is gearing up to be one of the most diverse yet as candidates like former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy and conservative radio host Larry Elder wade into the race. Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) is expected to officially announce his bid next Monday.
As The Hill’s Caroline Vakil and Sarakshi Rai note this morning, it’s a curious dynamic for a party that has at times found itself averse to discussions around identity politics. But the diversifying field in the race has some Republicans saying that candidates should feel comfortable embracing their identities on the trail.
“I think it’s who you are — you embrace it,” Rep. Juan Ciscomani (R-Ariz.) told Caroline and Sarakshi.
And the idea that Republicans can one-up their Democratic peers by offering a more diverse cohort of presidential contenders this cycle compared to President Biden isn’t lost on them, either.
Republicans “love the idea of … being able to push back on Democrats, and to frankly make Democrats look hypocritical for saying they’re the only ones who kind of represent diversity,” Mindy Finn, who was a presidential running mate to independent Evan McMullin in 2016, told Caroline and Sarakshi.
“I think Republicans take a lot of pride in being able to do that, and having a diverse field allows them to do that,” Finn added.
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Branch out with a different read from The Hill:
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This is the fourth in a five-part series called “How Florida got so conservative.” Florida’s shift to the right has turned the Sunshine State under Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) into a model for other GOP-led states seeking to enact culturally conservative policies. It has also turned DeSantis into a national Republican leader preparing to challenge former President Trump in the GOP primary …
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Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) will officially jump into the Republican presidential primary next week, according to multiple reports, mounting a long-expected challenge to former President Trump. DeSantis will likely file the paperwork for his candidacy May 25, coinciding with a meeting with donors in Miami, according to The Wall Street Journal, which first reported late Wednesday that DeSantis was set to enter the race. His …
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Local and state headlines regarding campaigns and elections:
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Top GOP brass works to keep peace after Gov. Tate Reeves opines on lieutenant governor primary (Mississippi Today)
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North Dakota Republican Gov. Doug Burgum likely to run for president (CBS News)
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DeSantis signs bill aimed at transgender care, pronouns, drag shows (Orlando Sentinel)
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Election news we’ve flagged from other outlets:
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Democrats race to avoid a Biden embarrassment in New Hampshire (Politico)
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Could Donald Trump run a good campaign? (Semafor)
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Antiabortion groups push 2024 GOP candidates to embrace national ban (The Washington Post)
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Key stories on The Hill right now:
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Legislation in Florida and Texas to crack down on undocumented immigrants is prompting some Hispanics to reconsider where they live and work. In Florida, videos of empty workplaces began to go viral after Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) signed a bill that ratchets up sanctions for employing undocumented workers. Those videos have caused a stir and … Read more
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Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) said Thursday she feels “threatened” by Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-N.Y.) following an encounter they had the day before on the steps of the Capitol. Greene said at a press conference that Bowman has a “history of aggression” toward her and others that she is “very concerned” about. In response, Bowman … Read more
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Opinions related to campaigns and elections submitted to The Hill:
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You’re all caught up. See you next time!
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