This week, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis left Florida to go on the campaign trail for Ohio Senate candidate JD Vance and Pennsylvania gubernatorial candidate Doug Mastriano.
Both candidates are facing tough races, with recent polling showing the Senate race in Ohio as a dead heat, while the Governor’s race favors Democrat Josh Shapiro by anywhere from 6-10 points.
DeSantis made his first stop in Pennsylvania to boost Mastriano.
Counter-protesters met him and Mastriano at the event.
Crowd from @SenMastriano event just came outside. They’re on one side of the road, supporters for @JoshShapiroPA (or at least against Mastriano) are on the other side. @WTAE pic.twitter.com/luHEAKCt6D
— Tori Yorgey (@toriyorgeywtae) August 19, 2022
DeSantis began by highlighting the stakes of the Governor’s election, saying that Pennsylvania is one of the most crucial swing states in the country.
“It may be the case that Pennsylvania’s now the most important swing state in the country because we’ve gotten redder in Florida, but these are important races,” DeSantis said. “One thing about these governors races (are), as a governor, you’re not just electing some politician like you would in some of these other offices.”
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Then, DeSantis explained what makes a good Governor as he has made Florida a model state for conservatives across the country.
“A governor worth his salt is (going to) be somebody who’s capable of being a leader, and there’s really no substitute for that. You can hide in Congress, one of 435, the buck doesn’t stop with you. You can vote, you don’t necessarily have to always be in the spotlight if you don’t want to,” Desantis said. “But if you’re Governor, the buck stops with you. You have to be willing to lead, and you have to be willing to stand up for people in your state.”
Mastriano has said that his vision for Pennsylvania is to make it the ‘Florida of the north.’
At Doug Mastriano’s campaign event in Indiana (the city), PA today.
Teasing his campaign stop with Ron DeSantis next week — he says “my vision for Pennsylvania is to make our state the Florida of the north” pic.twitter.com/2IMZG49QOE
— Ursula Perano (@UrsulaPerano) August 13, 2022
DeSantis began his speech in Ohio for Senate candidate JD Vance by highlighting his ties to the state, saying that his mother is from Youngstown, right next to where the rally was being held.
“My mother is from Youngstown, and she’s here…and my father is from Aliquippa but went to Youngstown State,” said DeSantis.
He then discussed how Republicans need to confront the left more aggressively, as he has done in Florida with laws like the Parental Rights in Education bill and his confrontation with Disney over the bill.
“The other thing we’ve done, that I think more Republicans need to do — don’t just sit back and let the left eat your lunch. Go on offense. Take advantage of issues,” said DeSantis.
DeSantis discussed his recent firing of a state attorney who openly refused to enforce Florida’s newly enacted 15-week abortion ban.
“And when we had a prosecutor in a part of Florida that was supported by Soros that said he was only going to enforce certain laws and was not going to enforce others we took action by removing him from office,” said DeSantis.
In Ohio and Pennsylvania, a spat over press credentials led to many prominent media outlets refusing to cover the event.
Most reporters in Ohio chose not to attend this rally in Girard with Republican US Senate candidate JD Vance and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis because the organizer's rules for coverage violate journalism ethics. For the curious, @TaylorPopielarz has been following the event online. https://t.co/yXwVx5uMys
— Karen Kasler (@karenkasler) August 20, 2022
DeSantis will figure out who his opponent for the general election is this Tuesday after the polls close for the Florida primary.
Additional stories you may want to read:
DeSantis vindicated: Reopening schools quickly during pandemic saved FL children
DeSantis’ Press Secretary explains why Florida is so successful… and why the left can’t stand it
