by Bethany Blankley
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who leads in all polls heading into Tuesday’s midterm election, has been blasting Democratic-run states on the campaign trail over the past week, pointing out that more people are “voting with their feet” and fleeing from woke leaders “running so many parts of our country.”
He made the remarks as at least nine incumbent Democratic governors’ races are too close to call and are considered “toss-ups.”
At a campaign event in Ave Maria, DeSantis asked those in the crowd how many had moved to Florida since he was elected governor in 2018. A sizeable number raised their hands. “How many of you would have still moved if I had lost for governor in 2018?” he asked. Nearly none raised their hands.
“We appreciate having you here,” he said.
What happens in other states, he said, “all these other races in the country affect us.”
If Democratic gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams were to win in Georgia, he said, “it would absolutely spark refugees into Florida from Georgia. People would not want to deal with it. They would come in droves. They would move to Florida and they’d be done with it.
“Just think what I’d have to deal with. Raul Castro to my south and Abrams to my north? I don’t think so.”
Incumbent Republican Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp is leading Abrams in polling.
“What we’ve seen is,” he added, is that people have left “jurisdictions governed by failed leftist ideology and corrupt politicians. You see the migration – and since COVID, we’ve led the nation in net in migration, we’ve had more adjusted gross income move into the state of Florida than has ever moved in to any state in the history of our country over a similar time period. And this is just people voting with their feet.”
He said he continues to meet with new Florida residents who tell them why they left their blue state, saying he’s “been able to see what works in Florida because we have been a place where people go for refuge to live in a free state [after they’ve been] ground down by a lot of these woke [governors] running so many parts of our country.”
At a campaign event in Franklin County, he said, “One reason people have been fleeing … is because crime throughout this country is totally out of control in these leftist jurisdictions. They’ve really attacked law enforcement over the last many years, slashing funding for law enforcement, and saying they’re going to defund [the police]. They say they want to take money from police and give it to social services.
“We have stood for law enforcement, we are very tough on crime. You’re not going to see us releasing criminals back on the street like they do in New York.”
DeSantis’ invitation for out-of-state police to relocate to Florida from jurisdictions that have defunded their police departments has paid off, as more officers continue to relocate to Florida.
But as prosecutors like those in Los Angeles and San Francisco, he says, with “radical views … don’t enforce the laws that they disagree with,” the result is that “the inmates run the asylum in the community … they steal, they assault … so people don’t feel safe. It’s absolutely contributed to a mass exodus in some of these places.
“We don’t tolerate that in Florida. We make sure our prosecutors follow the law,” he said, referring to officials he’s removed from office.
Since DeSantis has been governor, Florida’s gained more residents and more Republican voters.
Between July 1, 2020 and July 1, 2021, Florida had the greatest net migration of 259,480 new residents; New York had the greatest out migration of 319,020, according to U.S. Census Bureau data. According to moveBuddha data, over 40% of New Yorkers who left the state moved to Florida, California, and Texas.
By December of last year, for the first time in modern history, more Floridians registered as Republicans than Democrats, according to state data.
“Florida voters are choosing the Republican Party over the Democratic Party because we value freedom and liberty and reject Democrat-led government control,” DeSantis said in an email at the time announcing the state’s new voter registration totals. He said the “milestone moment” was a result of “years of hard work, combined with the success of our common-sense conservative policies.”
According to a RealClear Politics projection, of the 36 gubernatorial races to be decided on Nov. 8, nine are Democratic incumbents whose elections hang in the balance.
According to 538, “some governorships could change hands … dramatically altering the outlook for policymaking in some states.” It projects that Democrats will win Massachusetts and Maryland and Republicans will win Nevada, Wisconsin and maybe Oregon. It also implies the races in Kansas and Arizona are too close to call.
Since 2010, Republicans have held the majority of governorships. They currently hold 28 seats, Democrats hold 22.
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Bethany Blankley is a regular contributor to The Center Square.
Photo “Ron DeSantis” by Gage Skidmore. CC BY-SA 2.0. Background Photo “Florida State Capitol” by DXR. CC BY-SA 4.0.
