With 2016 around the corner, the Republican Party of Florida (RPOF) will be hosting the Sunshine Summit in Orlando from Nov. 12-14 and the stakes will be high. The presidential hopefuls will take most of the spotlight but there’s another important race already taking shape as Rubio has said he will not run for a second Senate term. Florida Republicans Ron DeSantis, David Jolly, Carlos Lopez-Cantera and Todd Wilcox are already off and running and they will be at the Sunshine Summit trying to win support for their Senate bids.
Over the next few weeks, Sunshine State News will look at the presidential and Senate candidates who will be on stage at the Sunshine Summit and what is at stake as they take their messages to Republicans across Florida. Starting today, Sunshine State News will turn its attention to the Senate hopefuls. Sunshine State News will focus on the presidential candidates who will be at the Sunshine Summit starting on Monday, Oct. 26.
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Ron DeSantis is well known in Northeast Florida but not that familiar to Republicans in the rest of the Sunshine State. At the Sunshine Summit next month, DeSantis has the opportunity to help change that and the perfect background to showcase.
Only 37, DeSantis played baseball at Yale where he graduated magna cum laude before heading over to Harvard for law school. Joining the Navy JAG Corps, DeSantis eventually taught at Florida Coastal School of Law and won an open congressional seat in 2012.
During his two terms in Congress, DeSantis has carved out a niche for himself focusing on judicial and national security issues where his background has helped him considerably. National conservative groups flocked to DeSantis when he launched his Senate bid back in May and he announced last week that he had almost $2.5 million on hand and PACs are lined up to support him. DeSantis clearly has the resources to blitz the state once the Republican presidential primary is over in March.
Conservatives attending the Sunshine Summit should like what they hear from DeSantis. The congressman has shown no hesitation in going after the Obama administration on foreign policy and fiscal issues. DeSantis has also looked to push against the GOP leadership in Washington, backing Dan Webster for speaker even though, earlier in the year, he voted for John Boehner.
Still, DeSantis brandishes his outsider credentials honestly enough. Teaming up with Matt Salmon, DeSantis has proposed a constitutional amendment to ensure members of Congress aren’t exempt from the laws they pass, looking to rectify one of the major problems conservatives had with Obamacare. Conservatives should also like DeSantis’ efforts against Eric Holder and his musings that the Republican caucus should at least consider an outsider like Dr. Ben Carson to replace Boehner as House speaker.
DeSantis certainly should appeal to conservatives and Republicans across Florida but there are some challenges. While he’s from Ponte Vedra, DeSantis simply isn’t as established as other First Coast Republicans like Ander Crenshaw and even Lenny Curry. That’s not a problem against the current field of Republican Senate candidates but it could pose a challenge for DeSantis if Jeff Atwater or even Bill McCollum enters the fray. Nor is the First Coast exactly the best of launching pads for a bid for statewide office.
Still, DeSantis has potential, an impressive background and a solid grasp of the issues. None of the other Republican candidates appear as strong on international issues as DeSantis. With many Republicans unfamiliar with him, DeSantis has the chance to make a good first impression at the Sunshine Summit even as the presidential candidates get most of the attention.
Reach Kevin Derby at kderby@sunshinestatenews.com or follow him on Twitter: @KevinDerbySSN
