The Florida Senate on Wednesday is slated to take up a proposal that could help Gov. Ron DeSantis if he runs for president.
The proposal, part of an amendment to a major elections bill (SB 7050), would exempt candidates for president or vice president from the state’s resign-to-run law.
That law says any state officeholder who “qualifies for federal public office must resign from the office he or she presently holds if the terms, or any part thereof, run concurrently with each other.”
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By exempting candidates for president or vice president from the requirement, the bill would ensure DeSantis could run for president in 2024 without having to resign as governor.
Questions have swirled for weeks about whether lawmakers would pursue such a change.
DeSantis has not formally announced a presidential bid but is widely expected to run next year.
Trump Camp Fires At DeSantis
The Trump campaign has joined Florida’s Democratic Party in alleging that Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis is wrongfully running a shadow presidential campaign on the taxpayers’ dime.
In a press release on April 11, former President Donald Trump’s campaign claimed DeSantis is “on a month-long, taxpayer-funded presidential campaign schedule paid for by Florida taxpayers.” The release also said DeSantis’ schedule means “new questions are emerging as to whether this will force DeSantis to resign from office.”
“The matter also highlights yet another flip-flop for DeSantis, who previously resigned from Congress to run for Governor to ‘protect the taxpayers,’” Trump’s team said.
The issue is Florida’s “Resign to Run” law that requires statewide politicians to resign in order to run for federal office. Trump’s campaign cited a quote by Nova Southeastern University Law School Professor Bob Jarvis, who told the Associated Press, “There is no ambiguity, no debate, no dispute. Under current law, DeSantis cannot run for president before first resigning as a governor.”
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This is the second time a Trump-allied group has accused DeSantis of this.
A Trump super PAC, Make America Great Again Inc., alleged last month that activities by DeSantis, and on his behalf, made him a “de facto” presidential candidate, while still serving as the state’s governor. Florida Democratic Party Chairwoman Nikki Fried made a similar complaint about a South Florida retreat conducted a DeSantis-supporting PAC in March.
In response, DeSantis’ spokeswoman Taryn Fenske told The Hill, “Adding this to the list of frivolous and politically motivated attacks. It’s inappropriate to use state ethics complaints for partisan purposes.”
Trump’s campaign noted that DeSantis’ allies in the state Legislature seek to change the law to help him, but alleged that DeSantis is already campaigning.
They noted a Politico report that said DeSantis during April will travel to Georgia, Pennsylvania, New York, Michigan, Ohio, New Hampshire, Utah, Texas, and South Carolina. The governor also recently went to Iowa and Nevada.
Moreover, according to Trump’s team, DeSantis is headed overseas in April to Israel and Britain, as well as possibly to Japan and Korea, “to score some last-minute foreign policy credentials for his 2024 presidential campaign,” which is all “part of his taxpayer-funded globetrotting.”
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They noted that in 2018 DeSantis resigned from Congress to run for governor because it was “inappropriate” to “accept a salary” when he would miss “the vast majority” or Congress’ session.
“DeSantis’ upcoming 2024 presidential campaign travel occurs while the Florida Legislature is in-session, and before DeSantis has formed a campaign committee to pay for his travel,” Trump’s campaign argued.
“This means that in addition to his salary, Florida taxpayers are on the hook for travel and security costs. So why the change of heart?”
In a statement, Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung said, “Gov. Ron DeSantis wants to campaign full-time for president, during the Florida legislative session, while collecting a salary and having the taxpayers pick up the costs for his travel and security. It’s a massive flip-flop from his position in 2018.”
“To make matters worse, DeSantis’ upcoming taxpayer-funded campaign travel appears to put him at odds with Florida’s existing ‘Resign to Run’ law.”
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