After his historic landslide victory on Tuesday night, Florida’s Republican governor Ron DeSantis told a large crowd that he had “just begun to battle.”
After DeSantis’s unexpectedly significant re-election victory—a margin that not even his closest friends predicted—the timing of this speech is appropriate. In 2018, the governor won a tight contest by just 30,000 votes, but in 2016, he crushed his opponent, Charlie Crist, by more than 1.5 million votes.
Several former President Donald Trump’s backed candidates for critical U.S. Senate or gubernatorial seats struggled or lost in tight contests. Thus DeSantis’ triumph was primarily regarded as the top story from the 2017 midterm election season.
In the days leading up to the election, Trump launched a series of attacks against the Florida governor and cheered the loss of a Republican candidate in a crucial U.S. Senate race that might determine which party controls the Senate.
Speaking as a victor, DeSantis said in his victory address that he had “rewritten the political landscape” by making freedom from tyrannical leftist politicians a priority.
In keeping with the pledges we made to the people of Florida, we have made significant progress toward achieving our stated goals. Today, after four years, the verdict is in. DeSantis has declared that freedom will remain. Now, with the help of Florida’s voters, we’ve done more than win the election; we’ve changed the political landscape. Thanks very much for giving us a victory to remember.
After praising his administration’s robust defense of freedom, notably during the COVID outbreak, DeSantis said that many Americans have been relocating to Florida.
According to DeSantis, “Florida has served as the promised land for so many” in the “great migration of Americans.” We’ve decided to be free. We have been able to keep the peace. We have defended the rights of parents. We have honored our taxpayers, and we reject woke ideology. We battle the awakened in the courts, classrooms, and boardrooms, and we will never give in to the woke mob. “Florida is the final resting place of the awakened!”
DeSantis summed up his argument: “People have migrated here because our policies work.” To paraphrase, “Leadership is essential. We don’t believe in taking polls or reading the wind. Leaders are not followers; they are leaders. In the beginning, we had an idea. We made that plan a reality. We achieved unprecedented success, and this state’s people have responded equally unprecedentedly. While the rest of the country is in disarray thanks to inept Leadership in the capital, Florida is finally heading in the right direction. Restoring original American values is crucial to the continued success of the American experiment. The state of Florida has shown that it is possible. We’re here to tell you that things will get better. Our form has accomplished a lot, and I am pleased with that. I appreciate your confidence in me and am excited about the future. I have won the battle for good. This first term is over, and I have finished the course. Also, I have kept the ship. In the past four years, we’ve done more than anyone could imagine possible, but there’s still a long way to go, and I’ve only just begun to fight for it.