Gov. Ron DeSantis suspends his presidential campaign, endorses Trump

Gov. Ron DeSantis will no longer campaign for the Republican nomination for president. But he will be on the ballot in Florida anyway.

DeSantis suspended his presidential campaign with an announcement on X, formerly Twitter, the same platform where he formally announced his campaign.

“Over the past many months, Casey and I have traveled across the country to deliver a message of hope,” DeSantis said. “That decline is a choice, and we can again succeed as a nation. Nobody worked harder, and we left it all out on the field.”

DeSantis said after taking second place in Iowa, the campaign “prayed and deliberated” on the way forward, but said there wasn’t a clear path to victory.

DeSantis also announced he would endorse former President Donald Trump, saying former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley represented “the old Republican guard of yesteryear — a repackaged form of warmed-over corporatism.”

When DeSantis launched his campaign in May of last year, and long before it, he was touted as a shining star and an alternative to Trump.

But DeSantis’ campaign stumbled out of the gate with a botched announcement live on X, formerly Twitter, with X CEO Elon Musk, an inability to gain traction in a crowded field, a general perception that DeSantis was not charismatic, and a seemingly strong belief from the electorate that Trump was needed to win back the White House.

That belief manifested in poll after poll, and in the first official contest of the primary season, the Iowa Caucus. DeSantis came in a distant second to Trump. According to the Associated Press, Trump finished with 51% of the vote. DeSantis won just over 21%, and Haley won 19%.

This leaves two candidates actively campaigning for the nomination: Trump and Haley. But on the ballot for the Florida Republican Presidential Primary, you’ll see DeSantis’ name.

That’s because Secretary of State Cord Byrd published the list of candidates for Florida’s March 19 primary back in December. This was necessary so that county supervisors of elections could get ballots ready for overseas and military voters.

That means DeSantis will still be on the ballot in March, even though the campaign is now suspended. In addition to him, Haley and Trump, so will the following candidates:

• Ryan Binkley
• Doug Burgum
• Chris Christie
• Asa Hutchinson
• Vivek Ramaswamy

All of those candidates have also suspended their campaigns.

Meanwhile, DeSantis has much to do. The Florida Legislative Session is underway in Tallahassee, and the governor still has two years left in office.

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