In New Hampshire politics, the personal issue is everything.
With the Granite State’s February primary coming up so early in the presidential calendar, those looking to take on the nation’s highest office have had to perfect the art of the schmooze.
“I actually know people who won’t vote for a candidate unless the candidate has been in their house,” said Jason Osborne, the Republican majority leader in the New Hampshire state House of Representatives.
It seems increasingly clear that Governor Ron DeSantis wants to be president. In the past two months alone, he’s embarked on a book tour and an international trade mission, and a super PAC full of his political allies has started raising some cash. But even the governor’s supporters concede that DeSantis has shown little interest in a key political skill: courting donors and potential political allies.
His bid for the White House may come down to one choice: change style or double down on the idea that traditional politics is overrated. So far, it’s unclear which path DeSantis is choosing.
Anecdotes about DeSantis shaking hands and kissing babies are a little hard to come by. A Tampa Bay Times story about DeSantis published when he was in Congress in 2018 said his D.C. colleagues saw him as “aloof and a bit of a know-it-all.” Followers have privately described interactions where he looks at his phone during conversations or seems absorbed in his own thoughts among donors.
However, those close to her say she is working to change the perception that she is unapproachable. Osborne attended an April fundraiser for the Republican Party of New Hampshire which featured a speech by DeSantis. About 500 others packed into a room at the Manchester DoubleTree to hear the Florida governor and watch him work the room.
Osborne said he had heard the rumors about the governor being stingy. But then he met DeSantis.
“It’s almost as if what I had read was about a different person,” Osborne said. “Everyone was amazed at what a great guy he was.”
In Washington, DeSantis’ independent reputation persists. Last month, nearly a dozen Republican members of Congress from Florida — including some who had served with DeSantis when he was in Congress — endorsed Donald Trump, DeSantis’ expected primary challenger for the 2024 Republican nomination. Many of those endorsements came right after a meeting held by DeSantis with GOP members of Congress. They also came in the middle of one effort denounced by DeSantis’ political team to prevent further congressional approvals for Trump.
U.S. Rep. Greg Steube told Politico after those meetings that despite serving in Congress throughout DeSantis’ term as governor, DeSantis it has never reached him. When Steube was seriously injured after falling 25 feet from a ladder, Trump was the first person to call him to the emergency room, he said.
“As of today, I have not heard from Governor DeSantis,” he told Politico.
Perhaps a more poignant blow to DeSantis was the endorsement of Trump that came from U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds, who appeared with DeSantis at numerous events, including to entertain the crowd at the election night watch party of DeSantis of 2022, and whose wife, Erika, DeSantis has nominated. to a state university board of trustees.
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But DeSantis got the endorsement of his former top election official, U.S. Rep. Laurel Lee. And some Trump supporters also praised DeSantis.
“Like the vast majority of Floridians, I believe Governor DeSantis is doing an incredible job leading the great state of Florida. We have worked closely on a variety of initiatives to benefit my congressional district,” said U.S. Rep. Gus Bilirakis, who has nonetheless endorsed Trump in 2024, in an emailed statement. “I have always found responsive, engaged and extremely competent.”
For Republicans, DeSantis’ competence appears to be out of the question. But competition is not everything in politics. David Trott, a former Republican U.S. representative from Michigan, told Politico that he he doesn’t think DeSantis “cares about people.” Trott said he doesn’t recall DeSantis ever speaking to him despite the two serving on the same committee in Congress for two years.
Some DeSantis donors have also expressed doubts about DeSantis in recent weeks. Grocery magnate John Catsimatidis, who gave $15,000 to DeSantis’ political committee in 2018, told the Washington Examiner that he will not support DeSantis. because the governor “He doesn’t even return phone calls.”
DeSantis’ political team has pointed out that Catsimatidis was hardly a staunch supporter of DeSantis before making the announcement: He gave $20,000 to the governor’s Democratic challenger, Charlie Crist, in 2022.
Francis Rooney, a former U.S. representative from Florida, said he’s not surprised DeSantis didn’t get more love from D.C. pundits. He remembers DeSantis as a results-oriented colleague who had little time for the dog-and-pony show of Congress.
“It’s a strange culture, the House of Representatives,” Rooney said. “It’s more about how things look than what they are. And Ron never went in for that…the photo shoots, the bills that mean nothing. He’s a substantive guy.”
The political network DeSantis has built in the state seems to reflect DeSantis’ style. Those close to him say he prefers to deliver political victories than make friends with other politicians.
Sarasota County School Board member Bridget Ziegler is a key member of this political network. This year, DeSantis appointed her to the board of the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District, the central body in the governor’s ongoing dispute with the Walt Disney Company. She helped found the group Moms For Liberty, a conservative education policy group that supports many of DeSantis’ priorities. Her husband, Christian Ziegler, is the chairman of the Republican Party of Florida.
During the 2022 election cycle, DeSantis delivered endorsements in 30 local school board races. Ziegler hoped to get an endorsement from the governor. But despite their connections, there was no meeting between DeSantis and Ziegler to discuss their careers. Instead, Ziegler was given a candidate questionnaire by DeSantis’ team to fill out.
“He doesn’t play the political game,” Ziegler said. “He just acts. He works. He gets things done.”
Times political editor Emily L. Mahoney contributed to this story.
