The ranks of Republican leaders are pretty crowded in Florida, but two young Republican congressmen used opposition to Obamacare to get a little attention which could pay dividends in the future.
Both Ron DeSantis and Trey Radel played on the national stage this week as Republicans nibble on the edges of Obamacare. While the two Florida congressmen are freshmen, their prominence shows they're not mere back benchers.
DeSantis teamed up with Ron Johnson to sponsor a bill ensuring Americans can keep their current health care plans instead of losing their coverage in Obamacares wake. Its a pretty big lift for a congressional freshman, especially as there are plenty of conservative Republicans in the House who Johnson could have turned to. Its telling that Johnson went with DeSantis as the House sponsor. Despite DeSantis youth (hes only 35) and lack of political experience, the Florida Republican has shown a knack for getting attention and winning over conservatives.
Radel also stood in the spotlight by opposing Obamacare this week. When Marco Rubio looked for a House sponsor for a bill delaying the individual mandate in Obamacare until six months after HealthCare.gov is fixed, he turned to a fellow Florida Republican in Radel. Ony 37, Radel has been in office less than a year and, like DeSantis, was a political novice until 2012.
There are plenty of Republicans jockeying for the future, including young guns like Will Weatherford and Adam Putnam. Both DeSantis and Radel have to be included in the mix as Republicans look toward the future. Theyre both showing great promise so far in their short political careers and, as their roles this week showed, GOP leaders in Washington are paying attention. DeSantis and Radel could stay in the House for decades to come. Right now, they represent Republican bastions and neither appears to be facing a threat in 2014. If they decide to stay in the House, its not out of the question that they could give Bill Youngs 43 years representing Florida in Congress a run for its money.
But DeSantis and Radel could also be contenders in future gubernatorial, Senate and statewide elections. Its easy, for example, to imagine DeSantis running for state attorney general in 2018 and using it as a springboard for even higher office, much the way Putnam is expected to do in his current position as Florida agriculture commissioner. Radel could also find ways to move up the political ladder.
DeSantis and Radel are starting to appear more and more as part of the future plans of Florida Republicans. Conservatives across Florida and in Washington are starting to pay more attention to these up and coming freshmen.
Tallahassee political writer Jeff Henderson wrote this analysis piece exclusively for Sunshine State News.
