Ronald Dion DeSantis was born on September 14, 1978, in Jacksonville, Florida. He is of Italian descend with blue collar roots and knows the value of hard work. He grew up in the small town of Dunedin in Pinellas County, Florida.
After he graduated from Dunedin High School in 1997, DeSantis was accepted by Yale University. He worked his way through Yale and graduated Magna Cum Laude with a Bachelor of Arts in History with honors. He was the captain of the varsity baseball team. DeSantis graduated with honors from Harvard Law School. While attending Harvard, he earned a commission in the U.S. Navy as a JAG officer (Judge Advocate General Corps).
U.S. Navy service
DeSantis, while still a student at Harvard Law School, finished the U.S. Naval Justice School in 2005. Later that year, he received orders from Trial Service Office Command Southeast at the Naval Station in Mayport, Florida as a prosecutor. Later, he served in the Joint Task Force at the U.S. Naval base in Guantánamo, Cuba working with the Islamic prisoners. In 2007, Lieutenant DeSantis reported to the Naval Special Warfare Command Group in Coronado, California serving on the SEAL Team One and was deployed to Iraq. Lieutenant DeSantis became the Legal Advisor to the U.S. Navy SEAL Commander in support of the SEAL mission in Fallujah, Ramadi, and the rest of Al Anbar province.
He returned to the United States in April 2008, at which time he was reassigned to the Naval Region Southeast Legal Service. Later, DeSantis was appointed by the Department of Justice as a federal prosecutor at the U.S. Attorney in the Middle District of Florida. DeSantis received an honorable discharge from active duty in February 2010. He accepted a Reserve commission as a Lieutenant in the Judge Advocate General Corps of the U.S. Navy Reserve. Currently, he holds the rank of Lieutenant Commander in the Navy Reserve. He was awarded the Bronze Star Medal, the Iraq Campaign Medal, and other decorations.
Writing and teaching
Congressman Ron DeSantis authored a book entitled Dreams From Our Founding Fathers: First Principles in the Age of Obama, which was published in 2011.
Amazon described Dreams From Our Founding Fathers as follows:
“The Age of Obama has sparked widespread public discontent, the formation of tea parties, and a renewed emphasis on the philosophy of the Founding Fathers. Dreams From Our Founding Fathers: First Principles in the Age of Obama shows why so many Americans have turned to the nation’s founding principles in response to Barack Obama’s self-described transformational change agenda.”
“Using critical primary sources like the debates at the Constitutional Convention and the Federalist Papers, Ron DeSantis identifies the important principles that the Founders relied upon when they created the Constitution and demonstrates how Obama and his allies have radically departed from them. On issue after issue—the scope of government, the redistribution of wealth, the role of the courts, political leadership, and foreign affairs, among others—Obama has chartered a course that is alien to the Republic’s philosophical foundations.”
“America is at a constitutional crossroads. Obama’s vision rests heavily on progressive thought and the plethora of left-of-center political influences that have informed his worldview, and portends a decidedly less exceptional America, an America more akin to governments throughout Europe, in which the state, rather than the individual, is supreme.”
“Such a vision is a far cry from the dreams bequeathed to us by the Founding Fathers, who created a constitution based on enduring truths about individual liberty and the role of government. The voters’ choice between these competing visions will define the national character for a generation and, perhaps, irrevocably. Alexander Hamilton’s observation in The Federalist No. 1, regarding the situation in his time, is equally apt to our time: “The crisis at which we are arrived may with propriety be regarded as the era in which that decision is to be made; and a wrong election of the part we shall act may, in this view, deserve to be considered as the general misfortune of mankind.”
DeSantis taught Military Law at Florida Coastal School of Law in Jacksonville, Florida. He has written many articles for newspapers and magazines, including The Washington Times, National Review, American Thinker, American Spectator, and Human Events.
Election to the U.S. House of Representatives
In 2012, Ron DeSantis was elected to Florida’s 6th congressional district. He defeated Democrat Heather Beaven by 57% to 43%. While in Congress, DeSantis has led efforts to impose term limits on members of Congress, reduce taxes, repeal Obama Care, move the United Sates Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, assist veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress, stop American funds from being sent to Iran, combat radical Islamic terrorism, stop illegal immigration, and de-fund sanctuary cities.
DeSantis advocated for congressional term limits and a balanced budget amendment. He also spearheaded oversight efforts to expose malfeasance in the IRS and in agencies involved in abusing their authority during the manufacturing of the Russia collusion conspiracy theory. Congressman DeSantis was also a leading champion for America’s veterans and helped enact reforms to the VA and place an emphasis on mental health.
Congressman DeSantis conducted strong oversight over federal agencies, such as the IRS and the Department of Justice, and investigated the Uranium One sale to Russia, the use of the Clinton-funded Steele dossier against Donald Trump, and the failure to prosecute the criminal activity of the terrorist Iran-backed Militia Hezbollah by the DOJ’s Eric Holder. Congressman DeSantis was a member of the conservative Freedom Caucus. He served in three Committees, on Foreign Affairs, Judiciary, and Oversight and Government Reform.
On January 29, 2014, DeSantis introduced the bill Faithful Execution of the Law Act that directs the Department of Justice to report to Congress whenever any federal agency refrains from enforcing laws or regulations for any reason. DeSantis spoke in favor of the bill, saying that “President Obama has not only failed to uphold several of our nation’s laws, but he has also vowed to continue to do so to enact his unpopular agenda… The American people deserve to know exactly which laws the Obama administration is refusing to enforce and why.”
He signed a pledge sponsored by Americans for Prosperity promising to vote against any global warming legislation that would raise taxes. The congressman attacked frequently in Fox News and in the House of Representatives the way Special Counsel Robert Mueller conducted the investigation of Russian collusion with the Trump campaign. DeSantis served in Congress for six years.
On May 3, 2016, Congressman Ron DeSantis met with veterans at the Bay of Pigs Veterans Association Assault Brigade 2506 Museum and Library.
U. S. Army Colonel (Ret.) Johnny López de la Cruz, who is President of the Association of Veterans of the Bay of Pigs Assault Brigade 2506, welcomed Congressman Ron DeSantis to the Museum and Library and together with Julio Mestre conducted a brief tour of. Coronel López de la Cruz introduced the congressman to Bay of Pigs veterans and other guests.
Congressman Ron DeSantis sat for about an hour-and-half with Bay of Pigs veterans and other invited guests to listen to many comments and respond to questions. Several Bay of Pigs veterans and this writer told Congressman Ron DeSantis that the Trump administration has taken some steps against the Cuban regime, but they were insufficient to bring freedom and liberty of the people in the island.
This writer brought up the issue that Florida was still implementing Obama’s Common Core education standards even though many states have abandoned it. Congressman Ron DeSantis said he had received very negative feedback about Common Core and that he did not like it. This writer also discussed that many textbooks used in Florida are biased in the description of Islam and call President Trump a racist anti-immigrant as well as those who voted for him. Congressman DeSantis said that he was aware of these biased textbooks and had denounced them. When he was elected Governor, Ron DeSantis eliminated Common Core, banned the teaching of the communist curriculum of Critical Race Theory and banned teaching sex education in K-3rd Grade.
Ron DeSantis’ achievements as Governor of Florida
The information below comes from the Playbook of the Ron DeSantis Campaign:
Thanks to the Governor DeSantis’ leadership, Florida is the most pro-parent, pro-student state in the nation. His policies ensure that every student in Florida can get a quality education. The Governor has provided historic levels of investment in Florida’s K-12 schools, colleges, and universities. Because of this, Florida’s ranking for K-12 student achievement is 3rd in the nation, according to Education Week’s Quality Counts 2021 Report. Florida also ranks 1st in the nation for higher education, according to the U.S. News and World Report.
Florida led the way by putting students’ needs first. In the summer of 2020, when the media and teachers’ unions advocated lock-downs, Governor DeSantis kept our schools open. As a result, millions of students in Florida did not experience the same learning loss as locked-down states.
Putting Students First and Protecting Parents’ Rights
- Keep Schools Open and Reject Lock-downs
- Educate, Don’t Indoctrinate
- Ensure Parental Rights in Education and Keep Woke Gender Ideology Out of Schools
- Support Robust Civics Education
- Expand Workforce Development and Technical Education
- Reject the Use of Critical Race Theory (CRT) in the Curriculum
- Increase Teacher Pay
- Continue Support for School Security and Mental Health Initiatives
- Protect the Right of Parents to Petition School Boards and Districts for Redress of Grievances
- Guarantee the Right of Parents to Curriculum Transparency.
Parental Rights
- Banned classroom instruction on sexual orientation and gender ideology for K-3rd grade
- Signed the Parents’ Bill of Rights, prohibiting the state, or any other governmental entity, from infringing on a parent’s ability to decide what is best for their child
- Required school districts to notify parents if there is a change in their child’s mental, emotional, or physical well-being
- Ensured school districts are transparent in the selection of curriculum materials, including library books and reading materials
- Prohibited school districts from force masking students
Thanks to Governor DeSantis’ commitment to Keeping Florida Free, Florida businesses remained open through the pandemic, Florida leads the nation in new business formations, and Florida’s labor force has grown at a faster rate than the national average.
- Florida welcomed nearly 118 million domestic visitors in 2021, the highest level in state history
- In 2021, Florida’s market share of overseas travelers was 44.6% of the nation’s total, the highest any state has ever achieved
- The FY 2021-2022 state surplus tops $21.8 billion, the highest in state history, ensuring Florida is prepared for President Biden’s recession
LARGEST TAX RELIEF PACKAGE IN FLORIDA’S HISTORY
Inflation is an invisible tax weighing on families across Florida and the nation. Governor DeSantis is fighting back against Biden’s reckless policies with the largest tax relief package in Florida history, providing more than $1.2 billion of tax relief for Florida families.
TEN SALES TAX HOLIDAYS, INCLUDING:
- One-month fuel tax holiday
- Three-month sales tax holiday on children’s books
- One-year sales tax holiday on children’s diapers and baby and toddler clothing
- 14-day back to school sales tax holiday
- 14-day disaster preparedness sales tax holiday
PRIORITIZING INFRASTRUCTURE
Governor DeSantis secured historic levels of funding for infrastructure projects. With fewer people on the roads in 2020, Governor DeSantis used this time to accelerate critical infrastructure projects such as the I-4 Ultimate Project. Infrastructure funding for FY 2022–2023 includes:
- $4.4 billion for highway construction, to include 180 new lane miles
- $135 million in seaport infrastructure enhancements
- $314 million for aviation improvements
- $400 million to expand broadband internet access in rural and underserved areas
- $30 million for the Department of Economic Opportunity’s Rural Infrastructure Fund
Florida communities are ranked among the safest in the nation, and Governor DeSantis is committed to supporting law enforcement and first responders. He signed the most comprehensive pro-law enforcement legislation in the nation, prohibiting defunding the police. If local governments try to defund law enforcement, the Governor and the Cabinet can override them and reinstate the funding. Florida law prohibits employers, including state law enforcement agencies, from imposing vaccine mandates. These policies are leading law enforcement officers from around the country to relocate to work in the Sunshine State.
HISTORIC STATE LAW ENFORCEMENT PAY PACKAGE
- 15% average pay increase
- $50,000 minimum salary
- $15 million towards increased compensation for sheriff deputies and county correctional officers in rural communities
STRONGEST LAW ENFORCEMENT RECRUITMENT AND RETENTION PACKAGE IN THE NATION
- $5,000 bonuses to new law enforcement officers
- Scholarship opportunities for training courses taken by officers relocating from other states
COMBATING THE BORDER CRISIS
Governor DeSantis banned sanctuary cities, and in 2021, he deployed state law enforcement to help secure the southern border, becoming the first state to answer Texas and Arizona’s call for assistance. Under Joe Biden, dangerous drugs like fentanyl are freely flowing across the southern border, creating a nationwide drug and opioid crisis. Fentanyl is now the top killer of adults ages 18-45. To combat the crisis, Governor DeSantis increased the sentence for trafficking fentanyl and added methamphetamine to the list of drugs eligible for life in prison for those who sell them and cause the loss of a life. First Lady Casey DeSantis launched a statewide public messaging campaign to inform the public of the dangers of fentanyl and is educating youth on the life-altering effects of drug use through her The Facts. Your Future. initiative. This initiative reinvents how substance abuse is taught in schools from “Just say no to drugs” to “Just say no to drugs, and here’s why.”
STOPPING VIOLENT RIOTS
The Governor signed hallmark anti-riot legislation, the Combating Public Disorder Act, which holds those committing crimes during violent protests accountable and supports law enforcement officials who risk their lives to keep our communities safe. In the wake of ongoing rioting across the country, Florida took a zero-tolerance policy toward violent and disorderly protests. Governor DeSantis increased penalties for crimes committed during violent assembly, including battery on law enforcement officers, and created penalties for destroying monuments and historic property.
FLORIDA STATE GUARD
In 2022, the Governor re-established the Florida State Guard to enhance Florida’s emergency response efforts. The Governor secured $10 million in the 2022-2023 budget to support 400 civilian volunteer members of the State Guard.
GOVERNOR DESANTIS HAS BEEN ENDORSED BY MAJOR FIRST RESPONDER GROUPS:
- Florida Fraternal Order of Police
- Florida Police Chiefs Association
- Florida Police Benevolent Association
- Florida Professional Firefighters
Fighting Special Interests
Governor DeSantis fights for the best interests of all Floridians. He does not bend the knee to special interests and will never back down to the media.
BIG MEDIA
Governor DeSantis does what’s right for Floridians, despite what the hysterical media says about him. The corporate media lied about Florida’s COVID response, and now study after study confirms that Florida did the right thing.
BIG TECH
In 2021, Governor DeSantis signed a bill that holds Big Tech accountable and ensures that Floridians have protection against Silicon Valley elites. Under Senate Bill 7072, Floridians censored by Big Tech platforms have the right to sue companies and be awarded monetary damages.
BIG PHARMA
Governor DeSantis is committed to lowering drug costs for Floridians. In July 2022, he issued Executive Order 22-164 to drive transparency and provide cheaper drugs for Floridians. This order increased access to life saving medication and reformed state contracts with Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBMs) to negotiate lower prices for prescription drugs ineligible for importation, such as insulin and epinephrine.
Governor DeSantis also developed a plan to safely import drugs from Canada. With this order and other actions, Florida continues to lead the nation in holding the health care industry accountable, combating rising prescriptions costs, and putting Floridian patients first.
BIG SUGAR
In the 2022 legislative session, Governor DeSantis vetoed a bill that was created to favor the sugar industry, rather than the Everglades. Governor DeSantis stated in his veto letter that the bill created “unnecessary and redundant regulatory hurdles” that would hinder Everglades restoration projects.
PROTECTING THE ENVIRONMENT
Florida’s natural resources will be protected for generations to come because of Governor DeSantis’ focus on providing historic funding to protect our environment.
EVERGLADES RESTORATION
Since 2019, nearly 50 Everglades restoration projects have broken ground, hit a major milestone, or finished construction. These projects include:
- EAA Reservoir Project to send clean water south, while reducing damaging discharges from Lake Okeechobee. This project started a year ahead of schedule.
- Raising the Tamiami Trail to increase the flow of clean, fresh water south. The roadbed removal was completed six months ahead of schedule.
- Broke ground on C-43 Reservoir to intercept and store water released from Lake Okeechobee and local stormwater runoff.
- Completed and activated the C-44 Stormwater Treatment Area, which can store 50,000 acre-feet of water and will reduce harmful algal blooms.
Governor DeSantis pledged to secure $2.5 billion over four years for Everglades restoration and protection of water resources, and he surpassed this goal by $800 million, for a total of $3.3 billion over four years.
RED TIDE & BLUE-GREEN ALGAE
Governor DeSantis is committed to combatting red tide and harmful algal blooms. He restored the Red Tide Task Force in 2019, which had been dormant for over 15 years. Since he took office, over $40 million has been invested to combat red tide and aid local governments in cleanup efforts. In 2019, Governor DeSantis created the Blue-Green Algae Task Force to ensure that objective and sound science informs Florida’s environmental decision process.
OFFICE OF ACCOUNTABILITY
The Office of Environmental Accountability and Transparency was created to organize and direct scientific research and analysis, address environmental concerns most pressing to Floridians, and ensure environmental objectives are clearly communicated to the public. Governor DeSantis appointed the state’s first Chief Science Officer to lead the Office of Environmental Accountability and Transparency.
RESILIENT FLORIDA PROGRAM
In 2021, the Resilient Florida Program was established to better prepare Florida’s coastal and inland communities for the impacts of intensified storms and flooding. Since 2019, $1.1 billion has been secured for resiliency planning and projects. The Governor created the Office of Resilience and Coastal Protection and appointed the state’s first Chief Resilience Officer.
INVASIVE SPECIES
Over the last four years Governor DeSantis invested $5.6 million in python removal efforts. To combat the invasive species, over 17,000 Burmese pythons have been removed from the state since 2000, more than half of which have been removed since Governor DeSantis took office. The Florida Python Challenge®, an annual ten-day conservation effort in the Everglades to remove these predators, had more than 600 registrants last year.
FLORIDA WILDLIFE CORRIDOR
Governor DeSantis signed the Florida Wildlife Corridor Act into law, officially designating the Florida Wildlife Corridor as a network of connected conservation lands with a goal of permanently connecting land to allow wildlife to move safely throughout the state, unimpeded. The Florida Department of Environmental Protection was directed to invest in land acquisition and conservation easements to address habitat loss and fragmentation, enhancing areas critical to wildlife survival. Three hundred million dollars was appropriated for the Florida Wildlife Corridor, and since 2019, over 100,000 acres within the corridor have been acquired.
MANATEE PROTECTION
More than $50 million has been dedicated to manatee protection during Governor DeSantis’s administration to enhance and restore manatee habitats. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, along with partners like SeaWorld, are working to nurse manatees back to health and return them to the wild.
PROTECTING THE INTEGRITY OF THE ELECTIONS
Governor DeSantis promised to clean up Florida’s elections, and one of his first acts as Governor was removing bad-faith election supervisors. Since 2019, Governor DeSantis has secured nearly $18 million for cyber security and election hardware improvements to make elections more secure and $53 million for state-level election oversight focusing on election integrity and security.
Days after the 2020 presidential election, many states were still counting ballots. In contrast, Florida had 4.8 million votes by mail ballots canvassed prior to Election Day and 11.1 million Florida ballots counted prior to 11:00 pm on Election Day. Because of Governor DeSantis, Floridians can be confident that their vote counts.
“Twenty years ago, nobody thought Florida was a prime example of how to conduct elections, but we have become a national leader by running the most secure elections in the country.” – Governor Ron DeSantis
SECURING OUR ELECTIONS
Governor DeSantis has:
- Banned Zuckerbucks so Big Tech moguls cannot influence Florida elections
- Made ballot harvesting a felony
- Required supervisors of elections to check voter rolls for ineligible voters
- Strengthened voter ID requirements for mail-in ballots
- Banned mass mailing of ballots
- Created an Election Crimes and Security Office to stamp out voting fraud
“We started the first-ever election integrity unit in state government whose sole focus is investigating and prosecuting election crimes.” – Governor Ron DeSantis.
SUPPORTING FAMILY VALUES
This year, Governor DeSantis secured nearly $70 million in funding to address the fatherlessness crisis in Florida. This funding will be used for educational programs, to increase mentorship opportunities for families, and to encourage responsible and involved fathers.
Governor DeSantis has shown his commitment to supporting foster families by increasing monthly payments to those who serve as caregivers to foster children, increasing monthly support to cover childcare for foster children, and expanding postsecondary education opportunities for foster children. The Freedom First Budget includes nearly $361 million to provide services for foster parent support and adoption services. Because of this commitment, Florida has the best results for child permanency among the country’s ten most populous states:
- Lowest
- Average length of time in foster care
- Percentage of children in foster care for more than five years
- Percentage of children waiting for adoption who have spent over five years in foster care
- Average length of stay for children waiting to be adopted
- Highest
- Percentage of children adopted from foster care by relatives
HOPE FLORIDA – A PATHWAY TO PROSPERITY:
Uniting communities through ‘Hope Navigators’ to guide Floridians on an individualized path to prosperity, economic self-sufficiency, and hope.
Spearheaded by First Lady Casey DeSantis, Hope Florida utilizes ‘Hope Navigators’ to guide Floridians on an individualized path to prosperity by focusing on community collaboration between the private sector, faith-based community, non-profits, and government entities, to break down traditional community silos, in an effort to maximize resources and uncover opportunities.
Hope Navigators are essential in helping individuals identify their unique and immediate barriers to prosperity, develop long term-goals, map out a strategic plan, and work to ensure all sectors of the community have a ‘seat at the table’ and are part of the solution.
Hope Florida’s Care Portal technology connects the needs of struggling Florida families with faith and community partners. A Hope Navigator identifies a need, inputs it into the Care Portal, and a real-time message is sent to all participating organizations. Beneficiaries include, but are not limited to, struggling single parents, pregnant mothers battling addiction, children aging out of the foster care system, and foster and adoptive parents.
PRIORITIZING CARE FOR SENIORS
Governor DeSantis understands the importance of putting our seniors first. The Governor prioritized seniors during the pandemic and ensured their rights and well-being were preserved. Governor DeSantis made sure that seniors were the first to receive COVID treatment and that senior care facilities had ample supplies of COVID tests.
SUPPORTING THE MILITARY AND VETERANS
As a Navy veteran, Governor DeSantis understands the importance of honoring and supporting our veterans, military members, and their families.
SUPPORTING VETERANS
Since taking office, Governor DeSantis has dedicated more than $32 million to improve veteran facilities and build new state veterans’ nursing homes. In November 2021, Governor DeSantis announced $8.6 million towards expanding career and workforce training for military veterans and spouses seeking employment. He has provided scholarships for disabled veterans to attend higher education institutions, and in April 2022, Governor DeSantis signed a bill establishing a pilot program for veteran suicide prevention.
In June 2022, First Lady Casey DeSantis announced the launch of the Continue the Mission initiative, which recruits former law enforcement officers, veterans, and military spouses to be child protective investigators, Department of Children and Families case managers, and mentors to children in need. This initiative provides flexible career opportunities for former law enforcement, veterans, and military spouses who still have a desire to serve their communities.
SUPPORTING MILITARY FAMILIES
Governor DeSantis supports our active-duty military and their families who relocate to our state and allocated nearly $12 million to infrastructure, workforce education, and job creation for military communities. The Governor has led various programs such as the Salute Our Soldiers Military Loan Program and the Hometown Heroes Housing Program to assist active-duty military, veterans, and their families in the home-buying process.
Conclusion
Ron DeSantis is in the opinion of this writer the best Governor in the nation. He enjoys a stellar reputation, possesses a wealth of knowledge on many subjects, holds conservative ideas, and has opposed all the illegal executive orders from the Biden regime. Governor DeSantis did an excellent job helping the victims of Hurricane Ian that devastated South East Florida.