117 Facts About Ron DeSantis

Ronald Dion DeSantis is an American politician, attorney, and former naval officer serving as the 46th governor of Florida since 2019.

Ron DeSantis was stationed at Joint Task Force Guantanamo in 2006 and was deployed to Iraq in 2007.

When Ron DeSantis returned to the US about eight months later, the US attorney general appointed Ron DeSantis to serve as a special assistant US attorney at the US Attorney's Office in the Middle District of Florida, a position he held until his honorable discharge from active military duty in 2010.

Ron DeSantis was first elected to Congress in 2012 and was reelected in 2014 and 2016.

Ron DeSantis briefly ran for US Senate in 2016 but withdrew when incumbent senator Marco Rubio sought reelection.

Ron DeSantis was governor during the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as during Hurricane Ian and Hurricane Nicole.

Ron DeSantis encouraged the passage of the Parental Rights in Education Act and the Heartbeat Protection Act.

On May 24,2023, Ron DeSantis announced his candidacy for the Republican nomination for president of the United States, and he continued to serve as governor during the campaign.

On January 21,2024, Ron DeSantis withdrew his presidential candidacy and endorsed Trump.

Ronald Dion DeSantis was born on September 14,1978, in Jacksonville, Florida, to parents Karen DeSantis and Ronald Daniel DeSantis.

All of Ron DeSantis's great-grandparents immigrated from Southern Italy during the first Italian diaspora.

Ron DeSantis's parents and all of his grandparents were born and grew up in Western Pennsylvania and Northeast Ohio.

Ron DeSantis's mother worked as a nurse and his father installed Nielsen TV-rating boxes.

Ron DeSantis was a member of the Dunedin National team that made it to the 1991 Little League World Series in Williamsport, Pennsylvania.

Ron DeSantis attended Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic School and Dunedin High School, graduating in 1997.

Ron DeSantis was captain of Yale's varsity baseball team; he played outfield, and as a senior in 2001 he had the team's best batting average at.

Ron DeSantis was a member of the Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity and of the St Elmo Society, one of Yale's secret societies.

In 2004, during his second year at Harvard Law, Ron DeSantis was commissioned as an officer in the US Navy and assigned to the Navy Judge Advocate General's Corps.

Ron DeSantis was promoted from lieutenant, junior grade to lieutenant in 2006.

Mansur Ahmad Saad al-Dayfi, who was held at Guantanamo, alleged in 2022 that Ron DeSantis oversaw force-feeding detainees and Ron DeSantis acknowledged that he advised the commander of the base about the use of force feeding.

In 2007, DeSantis reported to the Naval Special Warfare Command Group in Coronado, California, where he was assigned as a legal adviser to SEAL Team One; he deployed to Iraq in the fall of 2007 as part of the troop surge.

Ron DeSantis served as legal adviser to Dane Thorleifson, the SEAL Commander of the Special Operations Task Force-West in Fallujah.

Ron DeSantis returned to the US in April 2008, reassigned to the Naval Region Southeast Legal Service.

Ron DeSantis was appointed to serve as a special assistant US attorney at the US Attorney's Office in the Middle District of Florida.

Ron DeSantis was assigned as a trial defense counsel until his honorable discharge from active duty in February 2010.

Ron DeSantis concurrently accepted a reserve commission as a lieutenant in the Judge Advocate General's Corps of the US Navy Reserve.

In 2012, Ron DeSantis ran for the US House of Representatives from Florida's 6th congressional district.

Ron DeSantis's campaign was financially supported by the Koch Brothers' organizations FreedomWorks and Club for Growth.

In May 2015, Ron DeSantis announced his candidacy for the 2016 United States Senate election in Florida.

Ron DeSantis ran for the seat held by Marco Rubio, who initially did not file to run for reelection due to his 2016 presidential campaign.

Ron DeSantis was endorsed by the Koch Brothers' fiscally conservative Club for Growth, which had previously supported his US House campaign.

When Rubio ended his presidential bid and ran for reelection to the Senate, Ron DeSantis withdrew from the Senate race, instead running for reelection to the House.

Ron DeSantis signed a 2013 "No Climate Tax Pledge" against any tax hikes to fight global warming.

Ron DeSantis introduced a bill in 2014 that would have required the Justice Department to report to Congress whenever any federal agency refrained from enforcing laws.

In 2015, Ron DeSantis was a founding member of the Freedom Caucus, a group of congressional conservatives and libertarians.

Ron DeSantis opposes gun control and received repeated "A" ratings from the NRA Political Victory Fund.

Ron DeSantis was a critic of Obama's immigration policies, including deferred action legislation, accusing Obama of failing to enforce immigration laws.

Ron DeSantis encouraged Florida sheriffs to cooperate with the federal government on immigration-related issues.

In 2016, Ron DeSantis introduced the Higher Education Reform and Opportunity Act, which would have allowed states to create their own accreditation systems.

Ron DeSantis said this legislation would give students "access to federal loan money to put towards non-traditional educational opportunities, such as online learning courses, vocational schools, and apprenticeships in skilled trades".

In 2016, Ron DeSantis received a "0" rating from the Human Rights Campaign on LGBT-related legislation.

Ron DeSantis was present before the June 2017 congressional baseball shooting, and the perpetrator asked him whether the players were Republicans.

Ron DeSantis said that the May 17,2017, order that initiated the probe "didn't identify a crime to be investigated" and was likely to start a fishing expedition.

Ron DeSantis served three terms in the House of Representatives, retiring in 2018 to run for governor of Florida.

Ron DeSantis said that the debate over how to reduce the federal deficit should shift emphasis from tax increases to curtailing spending and triggering economic growth.

Ron DeSantis is a past supporter of replacing the federal income tax and the IRS with a federal sales tax called the FairTax, by cosponsoring legislation to do so as a US representative.

Ron DeSantis supported a "no budget, no pay" policy for Congress to encourage passage of a budget resolution.

Ron DeSantis endorsed the REINS Act, which would have required that regulations significantly affecting the economy be subject to a vote of Congress before taking effect.

Ron DeSantis supported the 2014 Venezuelan protests, calling them peaceful and a result of Venezuela's "socialist" economic policy.

Ron DeSantis heavily criticized the Venezuelan government's response to the protests, saying its actions resembled techniques used by Cuban leader Fidel Castro.

Ron DeSantis criticized IRS employee Lois Lerner and asked that she testify to Congress.

In 2014, Ron DeSantis introduced the Let Seniors Work Act, the companion of a similar bill introduced by Marco Rubio in the Senate.

Ron DeSantis sponsored the Transportation Empowerment Act, which would have transferred much of the responsibility for transportation projects to the states and sharply reduced the federal gas tax.

Ron DeSantis opposed legislation to require online retailers to collect and pay state sales tax.

Ron DeSantis opted not to receive his congressional pension and filed a measure that would eliminate pensions for members of Congress.

Ron DeSantis served on the Foreign Affairs Committee, Judiciary Committee, and the Republican Study Committee, along with several subcommittees of those.

Ron DeSantis was elected governor of Florida in 2018 and reelected in 2022.

Ron DeSantis is not eligible to run for a third term in 2026.

On January 5,2018, Ron DeSantis filed to run for the office of governor to replace term-limited Republican incumbent Rick Scott.

Ron DeSantis supported a law mandating the use of E-Verify by businesses and a state-level ban on sanctuary city protections for undocumented immigrants.

Ron DeSantis promised to stop the spread of polluted water from Lake Okeechobee.

Ron DeSantis expressed support for a state constitutional amendment to require a supermajority vote for any tax increases.

Ron DeSantis said he would implement a medical cannabis program, while opposing the legalization of recreational cannabis.

On election night, initial results had Ron DeSantis winning, and so Gillum conceded.

In September 2021, Ron DeSantis announced he would run for reelection.

Ron DeSantis responded, "the only worn-out old donkey I'm looking to put out to pastures is Charlie Crist".

Ron DeSantis won the November 8 election in a landslide, with 59.4 percent of the vote to Crist's 40 percent; it was the largest margin of victory in a Florida gubernatorial election since 1982.

Significantly, DeSantis won Miami-Dade County, which had been considered a Democratic stronghold and had last voted Republican in 2002, and Palm Beach County, which had not voted Republican since 1986.

Crist conceded the election shortly after Ron DeSantis was projected as the winner.

Ron DeSantis has maintained Florida's low-tax status during his time as governor.

In June 2019, Ron DeSantis signed a $91.1 billion budget the legislature passed the previous month, which was the largest in state history at the time, though he cut $131 million in appropriations.

The budget Ron DeSantis signed was more than $9 billion higher than Florida's current state spending plan.

In December 2020, Ron DeSantis ordered the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity to extend unemployment waivers until February 27,2021.

On November 22,2021, because of a significant increase in gasoline prices, Ron DeSantis announced that he would temporarily waive Florida's gasoline tax in the next legislative session, in 2022.

In 2023, Ron DeSantis reestablished the Florida Department of Commerce, consolidating Visit Florida, Enterprise Florida and the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity.

On February 24,2025, Ron DeSantis established the Florida Department of Government Efficiency, a state-level equivalent of the federal Department of Government Efficiency.

In June 2021, Ron DeSantis led an effort to ban the teaching of critical race theory in Florida public schools.

Ron DeSantis described critical race theory as "teaching kids to hate their country," mirroring a similar push by conservatives nationally.

On September 14,2021, Ron DeSantis announced that Florida would replace the Florida Standards Assessment test with a system of three smaller tests throughout the school year, in the fall, winter and spring.

On December 15,2021, DeSantis announced a new bill, the Stop Wrongs to Our Kids and Employees Act, which would allow parents to sue school districts that teach critical race theory.

Ron DeSantis expressed support for the Voting Rights Restoration for Felons Initiative after it passed in November 2018, saying he was "obligated to faithfully implement [it] as it is defined" when he became governor.

In June 2019, Ron DeSantis signed a measure that would make it harder to launch successful ballot initiatives.

Ron DeSantis instructed Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody to investigate whether Michael Bloomberg had criminally offered incentives for felons to vote by assisting in a fundraising effort to pay off their financial obligations so they could vote in the 2020 presidential election in Florida.

In February 2021, Ron DeSantis announced his support for eliminating ballot drop boxes and limiting voting by mail by requiring that voters re-register every year to vote by mail and that signatures on mail-in ballots "match the most recent signature on file".

On February 2,2021, Ron DeSantis announced support for legislation to hold tech companies accountable to prevent alleged political censorship.

Ron DeSantis supported Elon Musk's acquisition of Twitter, believing "it illegal for tech platforms to block or demote content that might otherwise run afoul of their terms of service".

On June 1,2021, Ron DeSantis signed the Fairness in Women's Sports Act.

Ron DeSantis said it was "entirely inappropriate" for teachers and school administrators to talk to students about their gender identity.

Ron DeSantis signed the bill into law in March 2022, and it took effect on July 1,2022.

Ron DeSantis threatened during a press conference to build a new state prison near the Disney World complex.

The settlement came a day after Ron DeSantis replaced two Disney critics on the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District with two Disney supporters and two weeks after a court largely overturned The Parental Rights in Education Act.

Ron DeSantis opposes efforts to defund the police, and as governor has introduced initiatives to "fund the police".

Ron DeSantis had argued for this legislation by citing the George Floyd protests of 2020 and the 2021 United States Capitol attack, although only the former was mentioned at the signing ceremony.

On May 5,2021, Ron DeSantis announced that all Florida police officers, firefighters, and paramedics would receive a $1,000 bonus.

On December 2,2021, Ron DeSantis announced that as part of a $100 million funding proposal for the Florida National Guard, $3.5 million would be allocated to the reactivation of the Florida State Guard, a volunteer state defense force that had been inactive since 1947.

In 2022, Ron DeSantis signed a bill creating an election police unit to investigate election fraud.

In June 2019, Ron DeSantis signed an anti-"sanctuary city" bill into law.

In June 2020, Ron DeSantis signed a bill requiring government employers and contractors to use E-Verify.

Ron DeSantis had originally called for all employers to be required to use it.

In 2021, Ron DeSantis halted cooperation with the Biden administration's program to relocate and resettle migrants in Florida in the wake of a surge in illegal immigration.

Ron DeSantis's administration allocated $12 million for relocating migrants to other states.

In September 2022, after similar actions by Texas Governor Greg Abbott, an agent of Ron DeSantis recruited 50 newly arrived asylum seekers, mostly from Venezuela, in San Antonio, Texas, and flew them via two chartered planes to the Crestview, Florida airport, where they did not debark, then proceeded to Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts.

The migrants filed a class-action suit against Ron DeSantis, calling his treatment of them "extreme and outrageous, and utterly intolerable in a civilized community".

In May 2023, Ron DeSantis announced plans to send over 1,000 personnel to Texas, including National Guard troops, to help Texas stem the influx of illegal immigration across the southern border.

In September 2022, Ron DeSantis declared a state of emergency for all of Florida as Ian approached and asked for federal aid ahead of time.

Ron DeSantis refused to accept $346 million from the Inflation Reduction Act for rebates to homeowners who want to retrofit their houses, make it more energy efficient, $3 million to fight pollution, and a program to help low-income people buy solar panels, as well as $24 million from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act for improving sewage systems in rural areas.

Ron DeSantis later reversed course and attempted to reclaim some of the rejected home energy rebate funds.

In June 2024, Ron DeSantis vetoed a bill passed by the State House that would have created a statewide process managed by the Department of Health to issue closures and send warnings if the bacteria in waterways reached unsafe levels.

In 2022, Ron DeSantis became seen as a contender for the nomination.

On May 24,2023, Ron DeSantis officially launched his bid for president.

On January 21,2024, two days before the New Hampshire primary, Ron DeSantis announced on X that he was suspending his campaign and endorsed Trump.

Ron DeSantis had finished in a distant second to Trump in the Iowa caucuses the previous week.

Ron DeSantis's campaign finished with nine delegates to the Republican National Convention.

Ron DeSantis met his wife, Casey Black, at a golf course at the University of North Florida.

Ron DeSantis had been a television host for the Golf Channel, and then a television journalist and news anchor at WJXT.

Ron DeSantis is a member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars and the American Legion.

In 2022, Ron DeSantis appeared on Time 100, Time's annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world.