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Governorship of Ron DeSantis

Ron DeSantis portrait 2022
Governorship of Ron DeSantis January 8, 2019 – present
Election	2018 2022
Seal of Florida

Ron DeSantis became the 46th governor of Florida on January 8 2019, after winning the state's gubernatorial election in 2018. He was reelected to a second term in 2022.

Elections

Rep. Ron DeSantis won his party's nomination to the governorship on August 28, 2018. He beat the Democratic nominee, mayor of Tallahassee, Andrew Gillum in the general election on November 6, 2018 by 32,463 votes and a margin of 0.4%.

On November 8, 2022 he won reelection to a second term, beating the Democratic nominee, former Republican governor Charlie Christ by a margin of 19.4%, the largest margin of victory in a gubernatorial election in Florida since 1982 and the largest for a Republican since 1868, this was also the first time in the state's history that the gubernatorial election was won by more than a million votes. DeSantis also notably flipped Democratic stronghold Miami-Dade County for the first time since 2002, and Palm Beach County for the first time since 1986.

Fiscal Policy

On May 6, 2022, following budget surpluses DeSantis signed a tax relief bill into law creating sales tax holidays that run from May 14th until August 14th, covering a wide-range of items, including diapers, gas, kid's clothing etc., estimated to save Florida taxpayers $1.2 billion.

Education Policy

In June 2021, DeSantis led an effort to ban the teaching of critical race theory in Florida public schools. He described critical race theory as "teaching kids to hate their country", mirroring a similar push by conservatives nationally. The Florida Board of Education approved the ban on June 10.

On June 22, 2021 DeSantis signed three education bills into law. House Bill 233 requires institutions to annually "assess the intellectual freedom and viewpoint diversity at that institution using a survey adopted by the State Board of Education", while House Bill 5 and Senate Bill 1108 introduce new requirements for civics education, including lessons on the "evil of communist and totalitarian regimes". Critics of the laws, including the Florida Education Association, claim they will have a "chilling effect on intellectual and academic freedom" and that the bills were designed to intimidate educators and suppress the free exchange of ideas.

On December 15, 2021, DeSantis announced a new bill, the Stop Wrongs to Our Kids and Employees (WOKE) Act, which would allow parents to sue school districts that teach their children critical race theory, ban businesses from incorporating critical race theory and similar concepts into mandatory training, and forbid any professors in state universities from teaching critical race theory and other concepts he described as discriminatory, The bill is designed to combat "woke indoctrination" in Florida businesses, colleges, and schools by preventing instruction in these areas that could make some people feel that they bear "personal responsibility" for historic wrongdoings because of their race, gender or national origin, preventing instruction that teaches that individuals are "inherently racist, sexist, or oppressive, whether consciously or unconsciously.", and preventing instruction that teaches that groups of people are oppressed or privileged based on their race, gender or national origin. He said of the bill: "No taxpayer dollars should be used to teach our kids to hate our country or hate each other." On November 17, 2022, The provisions related to higher education were struck down by a federal judge for violating the free speech clause of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution.

On March 22, 2022, DeSantis signed into law bill SB 1054, which requires students entering high school starting in the 2023–24 school year to take a financial literacy course. Florida is the largest U.S. state to mandate a financial literacy course.

On May 9, 2022, DeSantis signed House Bill 395, mandating that schools observe the traditional Soviet October Revolution Day on November 7 as Victims of Communism Day by devoting 45 minutes to teaching about communism, the role of Joseph Stalin, Mao Zedong, Fidel Castro, and other communist leaders in history, and "how people suffered under those regimes".

Parental Rights in Education Act and feud with the Walt Disney Company

In February 2022, DeSantis voiced his support for the Florida Parental Rights in Education Act, often denigrated as the "Don't Say Gay" law by its opponents, which would prohibit instruction on sexual orientation or gender identity in school classrooms from kindergarten to grade 3. He said it was "entirely inappropriate" for teachers and school administrators to talk to students about their gender identity. DeSantis signed this bill (House Bill 1557) into law on March 28, 2022, and it took effect on July 1. This statute also includes a provision "requiring school district personnel to encourage a student to discuss issues relating to his or her well-being with his or her parent or to facilitate discussion of the issue with the parent", which applies not just to gender issues and sexuality but also to other challenging subjects, including substance abuse and/or depression.

In response to The Walt Disney Company's opposition to the bill, and amid an ongoing feud between DeSantis and Disney, DeSantis suggested that the Florida legislature revoke Walt Disney World's special self-governing privileges over its 25,000-acre (10,000-hectare) property—privileges granted to the company in 1967. On April 22, 2022, he signed a bill to repeal the Reedy Creek Improvement Act, which allows Disney to self-govern its district, by June 2023.

Hurricane Ian

On September 24, 2022, DeSantis declared a state of emergency for the entire state of Florida as Ian approached. He also asked for federal aid ahead of time. On October 5, after Ian deserted Florida, President Joe Biden arrived in Florida and met with DeSantis and Senators Marco Rubio and Rick Scott. DeSantis and Biden held a press conference in Fort Myers to report on the status of the cleanup. In addition, DeSantis partnered with Elon Musk, CEO of SpaceX and Tesla, Inc., to use the Starlink satellite Internet service to help restore communication across the state.

First lady Casey DeSantis partnered with State Disaster Recovery Mental Health Coordinator Sara Newhouse and the Department of Health and Department of Children and Families to deploy free mental health resources to communities Ian affected.