Just 2 days before the New Hampshire Primary this past week, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis ended his presidential campaign. For months Desantis had been considered former President Trump’s biggest competition to become the Republican nominee for the 2024 presidential election. DeSantis was a Florida Congressman for 5 years before being elected Governor in 2019. He announced his campaign in May of 2023, advertising himself as a younger alternative to Donald Trump. DeSantis went head-to-head with other prominent Republican candidates including Vivek Ramaswamy*, Chris Christie, and Nikki Haley, leading all candidates except for the former president in polls.
The Iowa caucus, however, brought the DeSantis campaign to an end. DeSantis narrowly beat former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley but trailed nearly 30 percentage points behind Donald Trump. Not long after the results of the caucus were released, DeSantis ended his campaign and threw his support behind former President Trump. In a video statement, Desantis said “It’s clear to [him] that a majority of Republican primary voters want to give Donald Trump another chance” and encouraged Republicans to choose Donald Trump over Nikki Haley.
DeSantis has said he intends to run for the presidency again in 2028.
