Governor Ron DeSantis of Florida.AP Photo/Phil Sears, File
A former Florida lawmaker told WaPo that many in Tallahassee are “terrified” of DeSantis and his team.
“There’s no inner circle because they just cut off their heads and move on,” the former lawmaker said.
This year, buoyed by a Republican supermajority, DeSantis ramped up his conservative political agenda.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has often spoken of his desire to enact conservative policies without unnecessary drama, and during the last legislative session in the Sunshine State, he signed countless bills that had long been on Republican wish lists .
With a Republican legislative supermajority built on DeSantis’ 19 points explosive re-election victory, he eagerly pushed through a six-week abortion ban, forbidden diversity and equity initiatives in public universities, expanded a ban on the teaching of sexual orientation and gender identity through 12th grade, and is in full swing reshaping education in the state, among a wide range of additional laws and policies it has put in place.
But DeSantis’ pressure — and the strength of his political operation — has made many in the state capital of Tallahassee fearful of the governor. according to The Washington Post.
With DeSantis now in full campaign mode as a 2024 presidential candidate, it is promoting his “Florida plan” as a benchmark for what he would pursue as a conservative in the White House.
Back in Florida, however, caution abounds even among his staunchest supporters in the legislature.
The Post reported that after several GOP lawmakers, who are supporting DeSantis’ presidential campaign, met at the governor’s mansion last month, they refused to discuss anything that happened at the meeting.
And while DeSantis has struggled to win the support of Florida Republicans serving in Congress, he has a lock on the support of state lawmakers, with whom he deals directly and whose political futures he can more easily control.
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DeSantis has the support of 100 of Florida’s 113 Republican state lawmakers, 12 remain neutral and only one supports former President Donald Trump.
A former Republican state lawmaker told The Post that people are “terrified” of DeSantis and his political operation. Many believe his enforcers could dismantle their careers if they go against the governor.
“These guys are not ordinary politicians. There is no inner circle because they just cut heads and move on so quickly,” the former MP told the paper.
When DeSantis has talked about his no-holds-barred approach to governance, he’s left little to the imagination, often talking about “woke” policies and noting that team members who didn’t fully buy into his agenda could hit the road. He abhors the kind of palace intrigue that came to define the Trump presidency, even though the then-president’s endorsement of his 2018 gubernatorial campaign helped him ultimately win the Republican primary and subsequent general election.
But as The Post detailed, DeSantis sees his term as governor as one of action, especially on cultural issues, with the governor deriding some Republicans as too passive.
“I’m going on the offensive,” DeSantis said during a Club for Growth retreat in March. “Some of these Republicans sit back like potted plants, and let the media define the terms of the debate.”
“They let the left define the terms of the debate,” he continued at the time. “They’re taking all that in because they’re not making anything happen. And I said, ‘That’s not what we’re doing.’
Insider has reached out to a representative for DeSantis for comment.
Read the original article at Business Insider
