The newly selected GOP Chair in Florida is a huge Trumper who doesn't like DeSantis. ‘Florida win for Trump’: New Florida GOP chair concerns some DeSantis backers Christian Ziegler has worked closely with former Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski. https://www.politico.com/news/2023/...chair-concerns-some-desantis-backers-00083571 TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Florida Republicans on Saturday picked a political consultant with ties to former President Donald Trump advisers to lead the state party heading into the 2024 presidential cycle — a move that some supporters of Gov. Ron DeSantis fear is a “giant Florida win for Trump.” Christian Ziegler defeated Evan Power 126-100 in the election to chair the Republican Party of Florida. Ziegler previously was the party’s vice chair, while Power served as the statewide GOP chair of chairs and as the leader of the Leon County Republican Party. They were running to replace outgoing chair Joe Gruters, who decided to not seek reelection. After they selected Ziegler, party members picked Power to serve as his vice chair. “While the results may not be what I personally wanted, the Republican Party is well positioned with a unified team that will work constantly to beat the Democrats in Florida,” Power said. Both Ziegler and Power have said publicly throughout the race that their job as party chair would be to support Republicans and not meddle in primaries, but the race was viewed as a minor proxy war between supporters of Trump and DeSantis. Trump has already announced he is running for president and is increasingly attacking the Florida governor, who many anticipate will be his strongest challenger for the Republican nomination. DeSantis is expected to declare his candidacy in Spring. Ziegler, a Republican political consultant with clients across the country, has worked closely with former Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski, giving some the perception he was a more Trump-aligned candidate even as he has professed his support for DeSantis since he first took office in 2018. Ziegler’s wife, Bridget, is the co-founder of the conservative parental rights organization Moms for Liberty and was endorsed by DeSantis in her race for Sarasota County school board. Trump’s team did nothing to downplay the proxy war perception after the vote. “Chair races across the country are and should be important for people running for president,” said a consultant familiar with the Trump campaign’s thinking. The person was granted anonymity to freely discuss the race. “To that extent, the more Trump candidate won today. That means the Trump campaign is likely pleased with the outcome.” DeSantis’s team brushed off any suggestion that Ziegler’s win represented a loss for the governor, nothing Power will still be vice chair and the governor works well with both. “Both of our guys won, and we look forward to working with them,” said a DeSantis adviser who was not authorized to speak publicly. DeSantis did not personally get involved in the race. Power’s supporters, who would back DeSantis over Trump if the governor ran for president, were less optimistic. Trump, they say, could secure more influence in Florida with Ziegler leading the GOP since the party chair has sway over decisions on ballot access and how party money is spent. The chair also helps get-out-the-vote efforts, including early voting and vote-by-mail pushes. “DeSantis didn’t weigh in at all on the [Republican Party of Florida] race, and I think he regrets it,” said one GOP consultant backing DeSantis who was given anonymity to discuss the race openly. “Ziegler is 100% Trump. He’s partners with Lewandowski and others. This is a giant Florida win for the Trump people.” Another DeSantis supporter said, “I think six months from now, DeSantis may have some serious regret not getting involved.” Over the past few election cycles, the state GOP has turned Florida into essentially a one-party state. Republicans dominated every significant race during the 2022 midterms, including DeSantis’ reelection, which he won by nearly 20 percentage points. That sort of track record helped Ziegler snag the victory. “When you consistently outperform the rest of the nation in back-to-back election cycles, you don’t suddenly rewrite the playbook for victory,” said Florida GOP consultant Max Goodman. “Ziegler’s experience as vice chair of the party will allow a seamless transition as he works to expand the majority and match the results of his predecessor.”
Ron DeSantis Bombs As Dozens Show Up For New York Event https://www.politicususa.com/2023/02/20/ron-desantis-bombs-as-dozens-show-up-for-new-york-event.html
The most recent poll shows DeSantis losing GOP support for the Presidency, even if you eliminate Trump. DeSantis approval shrinks in latest GOP primary poll https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/poli...hrinks-in-latest-gop-primary-poll/ar-AA17DWR5 Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis's (R) influence on a potential 2024 presidential run may be losing its strength if recent polling released Friday is any indicator. The poll results show DeSantis trailing behind former President Donald Trump, with Trump at 46% against DeSantis's 23%. The latest tally is a 5% drop in support for DeSantis compared to last month, when the Florida governor trailed Trump by 20% in the same poll, according to Harvard CAPS/Harris Poll data released exclusively to The Hill. Other details from the polls spell more concern for DeSantis, as his standing in a hypothetical GOP primary without Trump has also decreased. Respondents in the poll stated that 39% of GOP voters would back DeSantis for the Republican nomination if Trump was not running, though the percentage is still 10% lower compared to a month prior. The poll, conducted from Feb. 15-16, surveyed a total of 1,838 registered voters. The survey does not report a probability confidence interval due to it being a representative online sample.
A great idea... 'Stable genius' Trump wants mental competency test for all presidential candidates Former President Donald Trump wants all candidates for the role to take a "mental competency test." "ANYBODY running for the Office of President of the United States should agree to take a full & complete Mental Competency Test simultaneously (or before!) with the announcement that he or she is running,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform. “[And] likewise, but to a somewhat lesser extent, agree to a test which would prove that you are physically capable of doing the job. Being an outstanding President requires great mental acuity & physical stamina. If you don’t have these qualities or traits, it is likely you won’t succeed. MAGA!” Back in 2020, Trump boasted that he "aced" a cognitive test he took during a Walter Reed physical during his time as president, telling Fox News host Sean Hannity that doctors were “very surprised” at how well he did. He also called on then presidential candidate Joe Biden to take the same test.
Republican 2024 rivals go shopping for big donors The GOP primary field is spreading out to woo big money around the country this week. https://www.politico.com/news/2023/02/21/republican-2024-donors-00083670 Former President Donald Trump will gather some of his top donors at his Mar-a-Lago estate in South Florida Thursday evening for his super PAC’s first fundraiser — an event that organizers are billing as an intimate candlelight dinner. Four miles down South Ocean Boulevard and a day later, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, Trump’s lead potential rival for the Republican nomination, will host his own contributors for a three-day-long retreat at the Four Seasons Resort Palm Beach. The dueling events — along with a Friday donor conference in Austin, Texas organized by former George W. Bush adviser Karl Rove and featuring a handful of other prospective Republican presidential candidates — will pull back the curtain on an intensifying battle for big donors in 2024. Republicans are moving aggressively to expand their networks of major contributors and block out rivals who are competing for the same dollars. DeSantis is expected to draw around 150 top donors and other supporters to the event, many of whom formerly backed Trump. The slate of donor events also neatly illustrates the current state of the nascent Republican primary: Trump and DeSantis are in a class of their own, while the rest of the burgeoning field is jostling to enter the top tier. Those involved in the planning for this week’s conferences describe the donor recruitment fight as intense and wide-open, with many Republican contributors — a large segment of whom are eager to move on from Trump — gravitating toward DeSantis but others still shopping around. “I think they’re like a lot of people,” Rove said of the roughly 350 donors and other guests expected at the Texas conference he has organized. “They might have someone who’s sort of a preliminary favorite, but they’re looking, and they want to see how they will perform.” The daylong conference will feature former Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley, former Vice President Mike Pence, and South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, among others. It is expected to draw a slate of mega-donors, with beer distribution executive John Nau, Omni Hotels owner Robert Rowling and real estate developer Harlan Crow are among those listed on the event invitation as co-hosts. Held at the 4,000-acre Omni Barton Creek Resort in Austin’s Hill Country, the meeting will be modeled after the same event Rove organized in May 2021, where members of the Texas congressional delegation interviewed would-be presidential hopefuls. Scott, who is Black, drew particular notice from donors for his performance during the 2021 event, when he spoke about his race and upbringing. As in 2021, candidates are jumping at the opportunity to attend the conference. Many of the co-hosts have long been part of Bush’s formidable donor network— a network that those seeking the GOP presidential nomination are eager to tap. Some candidates are expected to set up private meetings with influential givers during their visits. Trump’s Thursday evening event, meanwhile, will raise money for the principal super PAC supporting his candidacy, MAGA Inc. The organization started the year with $55 million in seed money, much of it transferred from Trump’s Save America PAC, which raised money over the last two years. But this week’s fundraiser will be MAGA Inc.’s first. According to recent filings, the super PAC has also received large contributions from several longtime Trump givers, including transportation company executive Timothy Mellon, banker Andy Beal and sanitation mogul Anthony Lomangino. Trump is now looking to further bolster the super PAC, which has begun using its substantial resources to hold focus groups aimed at testing out lines of attack against DeSantis and other rivals. Much of the attention, however, will be on DeSantis’ retreat, which is drawing donors, lawmakers and other supporters. According to a person familiar with the plans for the event, DeSantis is expected to discuss how he won a landslide 2022 reelection race and key planks of his agenda, including his ongoing fight with Disney, his decision to send planes of migrants to Martha’s Vineyard, Mass., and his battle against what he has derided as “woke” liberals. The governor’s team will also give a data-focused briefing on the reelection win. DeSantis also held a political retreat last year that drew a number of prominent Republican figures, including now-Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, a former Trump White House press secretary. Donors are focused on whether DeSantis, who is about to publish a new book and has been upping his national travel of late, uses this week’s event to drop any hints about his anticipated presidential bid. The retreat will also be scrutinized for which donors attend — including how many of them were once Trump backers who may be looking to defect from the former president to the Florida governor. The list of defectors includes Arizona donor Don Tapia, a retired electrical company executive who served as Trump’s ambassador to Jamaica. Tapia was a six-figure contributor to Trump’s 2016 and 2020 campaigns — but said that he had decided to back DeSantis should he run in 2024. Tapia, who gave more than $50,000 to DeSantis’ reelection bid and hosted a pair of fundraisers for him, contended that donors had grown tired of Trump’s attacks on DeSantis and predicted that the retreat would “overwhelmingly” be attended by former Trump supporters. “The name-calling has turned a lot of people off,” Tapia said of Trump. “Let me tell you, we don’t like that.”
Every week more former Trump administration officials endorse DeSantis. Ex-Trump ambassador endorses DeSantis: ‘The name-calling has turned a lot of people off’ https://thehill.com/homenews/campai...-name-calling-has-turned-a-lot-of-people-off/
I am picking DeSantis with a brutal late-round knockout but after some early-round knockdowns of Trump. It should be the #1 candidate for the fight of the year. wrbtrader
Trump threatens 'retribution' against DeSantis backers in late-night Truth Social rampage Former President Donald Trump attacked right-wing organizations who were considering backing Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis during a late-night Truth Social rampage. In a post on his social network platform, the former president targeted the Club for Growth over its supposed determination to back DeSantis against Trump in a theoretical primary matchup next year. "Failed former Congressman David McIntosh and his Globalist friends at Club for No Growth, who fought me all the way in 2016, and LOST, and then fought me again in 2020 Senate Races in Ohio, Alabama, North Carolina, New Hampshire, plus more, and LOST AGAIN, are now threatening to spend money against me early because their new boy, Ron DeSanctus, the man who wants to cut Social Security and MediCare, has dropped so drastically in the Polls to me," Trump wrote. "No Growth Members know there will be RETRIBUTION!!!" Hours later, the former president set his sights on Fox News owner Rupert Murdoch for testifying under oath that he did not believe Trump's false claims about the 2020 election being "stollen" (sic) from him. "If Rupert Murdoch honestly believes that the Presidential Election of 2020, despite MASSIVE amounts of proof to the contrary, was not Rigged & Stollen, then he & his group of MAGA Hating Globalist RINOS should get out of the News Business as soon as possible, because they are aiding & abetting the DESTRUCTION OF AMERICA with FAKE NEWS," Trump raged. "Certain BRAVE & PATRIOTIC FoxNews Hosts, who he scorns and ridicules, got it right. He got it wrong. THEY SHOULD BE ADMIRED & PRAISED, NOT REBUKED & FORSAKEN!!!"
DeSantis' work to kill a federal mandate on ethanol while in Congress -- which Iowa strongly supports -- could be his undoing in this early primary state. Ron DeSantis' past views could come back to bite him in Iowa, a critical state for any GOP challenger to Trump https://www.businessinsider.com/ron-desantis-2024-past-views-iowa-caucus-ethanol-rfs-2023-2