Ron Desantis

Ronald Dion DeSantis (/dəˈsæntɪs/; born September 14, 1978) is an American attorney, military officer, and politician serving as the 46th governor of Florida since 2019. A member of the Republican Party, DeSantis represented Florida's 6th district in the U.S. House of Representatives from 2013 to 2018. Born in Jacksonville, DeSantis spent most of his childhood in Dunedin, Florida. He graduated from Yale University and Harvard Law School. DeSantis joined the United States Navy in 2004 and was promoted to lieutenant before serving as a legal advisor to SEAL Team One; he was deployed to Iraq in 2007. When he returned to the U.S. a year later, the U.S. Department of Justice appointed DeSantis to serve as a Special Assistant U.S. attorney at the U.S. Attorney's Office in the Middle District of Florida, a position he held until his honorable discharge in 2010. DeSantis was first elected to Congress in 2012, defeating his Democratic opponent Heather Beaven. During his tenure he became a founding member of the Freedom Caucus and was an ally of President Donald Trump. DeSantis frequently criticized Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. He briefly ran for U.S. Senate in 2016, but withdrew when incumbent senator Marco Rubio sought reelection. In August 2018, DeSantis won the Republican nomination for governor, and chose state representative Jeanette Nuñez as his running mate. The close results of the general election between DeSantis and the Democratic nominee, Tallahassee mayor Andrew Gillum, triggered a machine recount. DeSantis was certified the winner with a 0.4% margin of victory. As governor, DeSantis resisted imposing restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic in Florida, including face mask mandates, stay-at-home orders, and vaccination requirements. In May 2021, he signed into law a bill that prohibited businesses, schools, cruise ships, and government entities from requiring proof of vaccination. DeSantis cut spending in Florida, achieving a record budget surplus for the state, and engaged in recovery efforts after Hurricane Ian and Hurricane Nicole.[3][4][5] He was reelected in a landslide victory over Charlie Crist in the 2022 Florida gubernatorial election; his 19.4% margin of victory was the state's largest in 40 years.