DeSantis Declares

Photo by Gage Skidmore

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) made his long-anticipated jump into the 2024 presidential race yesterday, making the announcement in a livestreamed conversation with Twitter CEO Elon Musk. DeSantis has positioned his campaign as focused on conservative populism with an emphasis on effective governing and joins a field of seven other candidates seeking the Republican nomination (see list).

Former President Donald Trump, whose campaign began in November, currently leads DeSantis by more than 30 points in primary polls taken before last night's announcement. Separate polling suggested DeSantis is the second choice for roughly half of voters ranking Trump as their preferred candidate. Reports suggest a DeSantis-affiliated group has budgeted at least $200M for voter outreach in the first four early primary states—Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina, and Nevada. The first GOP primary will be held in early January at the Iowa caucuses.

Hear a replay of the announcement here (note—the audio stream suffered a number of glitches throughout, find a cleaned-up version on Twitter here).