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As Florida’s legislative session ends, the DeSantis presidential countdown begins

Legislative session ended Friday

ORLANDO, Fla. – After 60 days of pushing through Gov. Ron DeSantis’ agenda, Florida lawmakers wrapped up their annual legislative session on Friday.

While new policies on abortion access, the death penalty, LGBTQ issues, guns and education were passed, the most persistent question still remains unanswered: Will DeSantis run for president in 2024?

News 6 political expert Dr. Jim Clark joined anchor Justin Warmoth on “The Weekly” to discuss whether this year’s session is considered a win for the governor.

“The whole setup was that he would pass his agenda, and for 60 days he would be the focus of the entire nation,” Clark said. “Certainly, he’s gotten more publicity than the other 49 governors combined, and yet, almost every week he falls in the polls.”

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Speculation about a presidential run ramped up following the governor’s 20-point victory over Democratic challenger Charlie Crist in the 2022 midterm election, but that was before former President Donald Trump announced his candidacy.

Despite reportedly meeting with a number of Florida’s GOP congressional members, DeSantis has failed to pick up many endorsements. Instead, they’ve thrown their support behind Trump while the governor has watched his poll numbers fall and his momentum diminish.

Still, though, Clark expects DeSantis to challenge Trump in 2024.

“It’s awfully hard to maintain this kind of momentum,” Clark said. “First of all, he’ll be out of office by 2028 and he’ll be a former governor. It’ll be tougher to get publicity, he won’t have any power over the legislature, it’ll be more difficult to go around the country... it makes it a lot more difficult. There are scores of candidates who have waited [to run for president], and they were never heard from again.”

Clark also discussed the governor’s ongoing feud with Disney and whether it’s hurt his future political ambitions.

Watch the full interview in the video player above.


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