Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is getting ready to seek the 2028 Republican presidential nomination, according to a new report based on anonymous sources. DeSantis rejects it completely. He says nothing of the kind is happening and has called the story invented.
The Washington Post reports that three people briefed on his plans say he is preparing a run. One person close to him said he has already contacted at least one national political consultant about working on a campaign. His federal super PAC also sent out a fundraising text this week, which those who know him took as another sign of intent.
Allies say he sees an opening. Voters rejected the Trump agenda in this week’s elections, and DeSantis described the outcome as close to an extinction-level event for Republicans. He compared it to a meteor strike that hit blue states, red states and everything in between.
Why Florida’s result matters
Florida stood out as one of the few conservative strongholds that held through the Democratic wave. Dan Eberhart, a longtime Republican donor who backed DeSantis’s 2024 bid, said that gives him more credibility than almost anyone at the start of the 2028 primary.
The results also shook up the early field. Before Tuesday, Vice President JD Vance looked like the natural heir to Trump’s political fortunes and the front-runner. That assumption is now in doubt after voters turned against Republicans across the board.
Lessons from 2024
DeSantis’s last campaign ended when he dropped out shortly before the New Hampshire primary. He finished second in the Iowa caucuses in January 2024 with 21.3 percent of the vote, well behind Trump, who took more than half.
The person close to DeSantis said he has taken two lessons from that loss. He needs to do more media appearances, and he cannot wait too long to enter. In 2023 he held off until Florida’s legislative session ended, and the delay gave Trump’s team months to define and attack him.
This week, DeSantis made several high-profile media appearances, including on Fox News, presenting himself as an alternative to Trumpism. He has also tried to stand out on policy, becoming a loud opponent of data centers in Florida as part of his stance on artificial intelligence.
DeSantis hits back
DeSantis responded to the news story on X. He wrote that he has not reached out to anyone about running for anything, and called the report an attempt to win clicks using anonymous sources.
“The Washington Post is fabricating this out of whole cloth. I have not reached out to anybody about running for anything. Just another pathetic attempt to garner clicks,” he wrote. “Using anonymous sources of course!” he added.
