Writer: Joshua Andino
2 min read June 2023 — While the Republican field of candidates running for president has grown considerably over the last few months, Florida sees outsized representation with three contenders calling the Sunshine State home.
While Election Day 2024 is still over a year away, the Republican field today stacks 12 candidates vying for the top job. Familiar faces and some new ones are all in the mix, and in keeping with Florida’s significant national influence, three Florida residents – Former President Donald Trump, Governor Ron DeSantis, and Miami Mayor Francis Suarez are all in the running.
The first candidate, and currently the projected front-runner, is former President Donald Trump. While inundated by legal challenges and marred by a constant barrage of press, the former president remains robust in the polls, and while candidates may show different strengths or weaknesses based on how questions are framed, Trump nevertheless remains the frontrunner. Policy-wise, President Trump offers voters a fairly similar platform to his 2016 and 2020 runs, with his campaign website noting the former president would work to, “Rebuild the Greatest Economy in History,” provide fair trade to American workers, and “unleash energy dominance” as the top three issues displayed.
Despite Trump’s popularity, he faces a number of legal battles, having been now twice-indicted in both the state of New York for 34-counts of falsifying business, and now more recently as a result of the Department of Justice-appointed Special Counsel Jack Smith’s investigation charging Trump with 37-counts, 31 of which are related to violations of the Espionage Act
Meanwhile, DeSantis has seemingly run to the right of Trump. The Florida governor has leaned into culture war issues that have become the hallmark of his campaign. “The War on Woke,” has extended to Florida schools – taking on teachers’ and faculty unions, book bans, restructuring the state’s leading public liberal arts college and taking on vested big-business interests in the form of DeSantis’ ongoing saga against Disney, Florida’s largest employer and a key pillar of the statewide economy.
While the governor rose early this cycle after a big re-election to be considered the potential contender who would dethrone Trump, a lackluster and disorganized campaign launch on Twitter became the key highlight of DeSantis campaign, which has failed to gain traction as headlines pan the governor as awkward and hard to connect with individuals. Earlier in April, big money donors declared publicly that they would be turning off the tap – for the time being, as a result of DeSantis’ social positions, including a 6-week abortion ban and his continued attacks on education.
On his website, DeSantis does not list specific policy proposals, however his written announcement statement outlines, “Our southern border has collapsed,” alongside urban crime and inflation, driven by a president who, “takes his cues from the woke mob,” as the key issues the country faces. In his most recent announcement designed to bring policy proposals into the campaign spotlight, DeSantis declared yesterday that he would end birthright citizenship.
City of Miami Mayor Francis Suarez has also thrown his name into the ring. While the mayor has seemingly yet to launch a campaign website, promotional videos tout his “Miami model,” and a potential contrast to DeSantis’ “Florida blueprint.” Speaking in an interview with Newseek, Suarez noted the DeSantis campaign had fallen flat, providing him with an opening to provide a different perspective providing voters with a choice they “can feel good about.” He surmised his preference that, “I’d rather be a bit unknown and exciting, than known and unexciting.”
As it stands for Suarez, the mayor must secure 40,000 individual donations to qualify for the first Republican debate this Aug. 23. While he has angled himself as a unifier, the mayor also faces legal challenges of his own, with an ongoing investigation over allegations of corruption as a result of receiving payment as a consultant from a South Florida real estate developer.
Despite their respective difficulties both legal and political, this is the first election where a third of all Republican candidates are from Florida.
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