Not that long ago, Ron DeSantis looked like the future of MAGA, the iron-fisted ruler of Florida politics who was set up for a White House run.
- Now the Republican governor faces potential political obscurity, unable to control legislators in his own party who are calling for a federal investigation of his wife’s charity.
Why it matters: Nothing exemplifies DeSantis’ striking loss of mojo in Tallahassee like the scandal surrounding Hope Florida, the state-backed charity of First Lady Casey DeSantis, who’s been eyeing a bid to succeed her husband as governor.
Zoom in: Ron DeSantis’ stumble began with his failed presidential primary bid against Donald Trump last year. DeSantis’ vindictive and pugilistic style of politics left him further isolated in the Florida Capitol.
- “Be careful how you treat people on the way up because you may encounter the same people on the way down,” said Curt Anderson, veteran consultant and top adviser to DeSantis’ predecessor, Rick Scott, who’s now a U.S. senator and has had a strained relationship with the governor.
The intrigue: The Hope Florida scandal’s damage to Casey DeSantis was evident in a voter survey shared with Axios by a business group that examined the state of play in Florida politics:
What’s next: Political observers and insiders aren’t sure about DeSantis’ future as he heads into his lame-duck year without the clear prospect of an appointment in Trump’s administration that some allies have hoped for.
- “Ron DeSantis went from Rupert Murdoch and every Republican billionaire telling him he could be president to sniping at hecklers at a fish shack in Destin,” said former Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz, a one-time DeSantis ally turned critic who now hosts a talk show on One America News Network.
- “It’s quite a fall.”