CORAL SPRINGS, Fla. — Gov. Ron DeSantis delivered both a traditional election season campaign pitch on Sunday — promising tax cuts —and touting the conservative social messaging — on gender, education and immigration — that have become hallmarks of his time in office.
The crowd, hundreds of people gathered in Broward, the most Democratic county in the state, liked what it heard.
They cheered when he arrived, when he touted his record since taking office in 2019, as he took credit for a fast start to emergency bridge repairs to islands cut off by Hurricane Ian, for his plans if reelected and for his takedowns of Democrats.
DeSantis began with his trademark phrase, asking if people liked living in the “free state of Florida?” (Yes, based on the enthusiastic response.) And he ended vowing that if he’s reelected, “we will leave no doubt that the state of Florida is free, and it’s free to stay.”
Issues
DeSantis said he would ask for changes in Florida’s death penalty law after last weeks’ decision by the jury decided that the perpetrator of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School massacre would get life in prison and not be executed.
The only appropriate punishment for such a crime is execution, he said.
Seventeen people were killed and 17 wounded in the Feb. 14, 2018, massacre. DeSantis touted the actions he took, such as suspending then-Broward Sheriff Scott Israel, when he became governor the following January. “When you have something happen like this Parkland massacre, you need to hold people accountable,” he said.
Another promise, is a big round of tax cuts. “We are going to do the biggest tax relief in the history of Florida next year,” he said. “Raising kids is going to be tax-free in the state of Florida.”
He said the state would permanently eliminate sales tax on diapers, wipes and baby items such as strollers, plus books and youth sports equipment. He promised two back-to-school sales tax holidays next year.
Also, he said, pet food will become sales tax-free.
He touched on several hot button issues, including immigration, alluding to the state-funded flights he authorized to relocate undocumented immigrants from Texas to Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts, asserting that Democrats didn’t care about the issue when it affected only border states and “howl” when they arrived in Democratic areas.
He said he’s standing up for election integrity and “for protecting parents rights.” Pointing to the Parental Rights in Education law, labeled “Don’t Say Gay” by critics, he said, “you don’t have kids in elementary school being taught that gender is a choice.”
He spoke for 32 minutes.
Supporters
Hunter Pollack, whose sister Meadow, was killed in the Stoneman Douglas massacre, helped introduce DeSantis, praising him for both actions he took in relation to the shooting and for his overall leadership.
“This governor gave us hope after that tragedy,” he said. “We need four more years of accountability. We need four more years of prosperity.”
His father, Andrew Pollack, was sharply critical of Democrats, and the failures by elected and appointed officials before the shooting and in its aftermath — a mess he said had to be cleaned up by DeSantis. Those who failed, he said, were all Democrats.
DeSantis is different, Pollack said. “I freaking love Ron DeSantis.”
He also denounced the students-turned-activists who formed the March for Our Lives movement after the shooting, referring to them as “those jerkoff kids that did the march. They accomplished nothing.”
Connie Zimmermann, a Margate retiree, arrived hours before the rally was set to begin because she didn’t want miss the chance to see the governor. “He speaks his mind. He speaks the truth. To me, he’s like Trump with a better personality,” she said. “I want to see him run [for president] in 2024.”
Ruth Field Beck, of Lantana, said the nation, not just Florida, needs DeSantis’ leadership. “Without Gov. DeSantis, our country is going to sink even lower,” she said. “He stands for values and he has respect for everybody.”
About the only difference expressed by some at the rally was whether they wanted DeSantis to run for president in 2024 or would rather have former President Donald Trump as the Republican Party nominee.
Beck wants Trump. “I’d like to keep DeSantis here in Florida.”
Mike Seldin, of Tamarac, wants DeSantis to run in 2024.
“We love Ron DeSantis,” Seldin said. “He takes no crap from anyone. Tells it like it is. ... He’s done such a great job. He’s the best governor in the country. And soon, hopefully, to be president of the United States.”
It was 85 degrees and sunny at the venue, the parking lot of Wings Plus in Coral Springs.
Peter and Barbara Dorner, of Fort Lauderdale, said the wait was fine despite the heat.
“This is the beginning of our sixth grandchildren’s future. It’s time for a change. Gov. DeSantis will begin that change. It won’t end there,” he said.
Many, like Zimmerman, arrived hours early for the rally, which stared late, and a few were apparently overcome by heat. At one point there was a call for a medic, and nine minutes into DeSantis speech he paused emergency personnel could come to someone’s aid.
When he resumed his speech, he said his administration always supports first responders.
Earlier Sunday, DeSantis appeared before a crowd that a campaign representative estimated at about 3,000 people at the Villages, the retirement megalopolis in central Florida. It’s the first weekend of campaign events for DeSantis since Hurricane Ian hit Florida on Sept. 28.
Hundreds of people were at the Coral Springs event, but a campaign spokeswoman didn’t immediately have the number of people who entered.
Wings Plus has long been a favorite location for major Republican candidates seeking to energize their supporters in Broward County.
Broward is overwhelmingly Democratic, but it’s a large county with many Republicans, and their votes are important in a statewide election.
The strategy for Republicans isn’t to win Broward, but to hold down the Democratic margin, making it exceedingly difficult for a Democrat to win statewide.
DeSantis acknowledged Broward’s Democratic leanings, but as he touted Republicans’ statewide advantage in voter registration, he said his party is making inroads.
“We’re making massive gains in Miami-Dade, major gains in Palm Beach and, honestly, not as many, we’re making gains in Broward,” he said. Last year Republicans overtook Democrats in statewide voter registration for the first time in Florida history.
Unlike the events for many major candidates, who often have a long list of speakers, the DeSantis event was focused on him. Lt. Gov. Jeannette Nuñez fired up the crowd before DeSantis came on. The only other speakers were Andrew Pollack and Hunter Pollack, Broward Republican Chairman Tom Powers, and Rabbi Avraham Friedman, executive director of Chabad of Coral Springs, and, briefly, state Rep. Chip LaMarca.
“Being a Republican in Broward County is tough,” said LaMarca said, the only state lawmaker in Broward whose district is entirely within Broward.
Democrats
Democratic gubernatorial candidate Charlie Crist campaigned Sunday in Palm Beach Gardens, and was scheduled to attend an afternoon fundraiser hosted by former Hollywood Mayor Peter Bober.
Also Sunday, the White House said President Joe Biden would attend a reception for Crist in Fort Lauderdale on Nov. 1.
And U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz and state Rep. Robin Bartleman, both Broward Democrats, held a news conference to denounce DeSantis.
“Bottom line: Under DeSantis, Florida will be less free,” Wasserman Schultz said. “”Don’t listen to what they say, watch what they do.”
Echoing a theme from the Crist campaign, and from many Democrats across the country, Wasserman Schultz and Bartleman said the election is, in effect, a referendum on abortion rights. “Abortion is on the ballot in Florida,” Wasserman Schultz said.
“We already see the grotesque situations he’s putting women in,” she said. “Radical Ron signed such an extreme abortion ban that it provided no exceptions for rape, incest and human trafficking.”
Bartleman also cited the state’s new prohibition on almost all abortions after the 15th week of pregnancy. “As a mother, this scares the hell out of me,” she said. “Here in the state of Florida, your baby girl, your child will be forced to carry that pregnancy. Imagine that trauma.”
The third speaker at the Democrats’ news conference illustrated the contrast between DeSantis and theDemocrats.
Jameson O’Hanlon, who was born female and has transitioned to become a man, said “They [Republicans] use the trans community as a political weapon because, you know, we’re gender traitors.”
As a teenage girl, O’Hanlon got pregnant and had an abortion. “I was too young. I didn’t want to be a mother,” he said. Now the father of a daughter, he doesn’t want the government restricting her decision-making if she became pregnant and chose to have an abortion.
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