DeSantis Passing Hat for Texas Republicans
as Apparent Springboard for 2024 Campaign
Capitol Inside
February 1, 2023
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis appears to see Texas as an unofficial launching pad for a highly-anticipated presidential campaign in 2024 after accepting invitations to speak at fundraisers for local Republican Party organizations in Houston and Dallas next month.
Harris County GOP Chair Cindy Siegel confirmed on Thursday that DeSantis has agreed to appear at the Lincoln Reagan Dinner that its hosting on March 3 in the largest city in the Lone Star State. DeSantis is set to be the special guest at the Reagan Dinner that the Dallas County Republican Party is staging there the following night.
"Alongside Texas, Florida is one of the nation's most prosperous and free states thanks to Governor Ron DeSantis' leadership," Siegel said. "His decisive actions and bold policy agenda have led to historic accomplishments for the Republican Party and the people of Florida. We are thrilled to host Governor DeSantis at this year's Lincoln Reagan Dinner as he shares his Freedom Blueprint with Harris County!”
With neither Ronald Reagan or Abe Lincoln as options. the county parties in the massive Texas metropolitan will expect substantial infusions of cash with DeSantis on the program as the only Republican with any momentum for a national race next year. Donald Trump is the only major GOP candidate in the field so far in his third bid for the post that Democratic President Joe Biden expects to seek again.
The Dallas GOP hailed DeSantis as “the most requested guest in America” in a notice on the event. But while the DeSantis trip should prove lucrative for the Republicans in the two largest metropolitan areas here, the excitement that his plans have sparked here could pour ice water on Governor Greg Abbott's own apparent hopes for a White House quest in 2024.
Abbott and Trump appear to be biggest potential losers from the DeSantis Texas sojourn a month from now. The glee that GOP activists in Dallas and Houston are feeling now with DeSantis lined up to speak doesn't bode well for U.S. Senator Ted Cruz either as the Texan who placed second to Trump in the GOP primary competition for president in 2016. Cruz has appeared to fancy himself as a contender again next year.
The race for the Republican nomination is DeSantis' to lose at this point based on an increasing number of polls that have shown him atop the field with Trump fading and doing nothing to get his campaign back on track. A Bulwark/North Star Opinion Research poll that was made public on Tuesday found DeSantis leading Trump by 22 points with 52 percent support when they were the only two choices.
DeSantis was up on Trump 39 percent to 28 percent in a hypothetical field of 10 that included former Vice-President Mike Pence at 9 percent and a tie for fourth between Liz Cheney and Nikki Haley with 4 percent apiece. A handful of other Republicans - Larry Hogan, Kristi Noem, Rick Scott, John Sununu and Glenn Youngkin - were deadlock in the Bulwark survey with 1 percent support each.
Abbott was not among the five GOP governors who sere choices in the survey. DeSantis had a 16 point lead on Trump with 44 percent when a generic third candidate was thrown into the mix.
more to come ... |
