Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks during the annual Feenstra Family Picnic at the Dean Family Classic Car Museum in Sioux Center, Iowa on May 13, 2023.
Rebecca S. Gratz | The Washington Post | Getty Images
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is expected to officially announce next week that he is running for president in 2024, NBC News reported Thursday, citing two sources familiar with the matter.
The governor’s official entry into the Republican primary will put him in a neck-and-neck race with former President Donald Trump, the party’s current front-runner for the nomination. Trump has for months treated DeSantis as his main campaign rival, showering him with a barrage of criticism of his record as governor, his political prowess and his personality.
DeSantis was already on track to make a public announcement of his political plans by the end of May. The recent move of his political organization to a new location reportedly triggered a 15-day deadline in which to submit a candidacy to the Federal Elections Commission.
Instead, he will make an official announcement within the next seven days, NBC confirmed.
The announcement comes at a precarious time for DeSantis. While he won a resounding re-election victory in November and enjoys strong support in Florida, polls of potential primaries show him falling far and wide behind Trump.
Meanwhile, some in his own party have begun to question his strategy over some of his most high-profile actions as governor. DeSantis’ willingness to use the power of his office to engage in divisive struggles on social issues helped propel him onto the national stage. But one of his most significant battles against Disney has turned into a protracted court battle that shows no sign of a resolution anytime soon.
“DeSanctus will be totally destroyed by Disney,” Trump hailed Thursday after the company announced it was abandoning plans to open a new employee campus in Florida.
A spokesman for DeSantis’ political operation declined CNBC’s request for comment on previous reports that the governor would file key FEC filings next week.
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