Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) said Tuesday’s special election in the state’s sixth Congressional district was not a referendum on President Trump’s first few months of office.
“If performance is low, [political media] I’m going to say, “Show your voters are rejecting it.” [Trump]. ‘ DeSantis, who previously represented the district until 2018, told reporters.
“This is the rejection of a particular candidate among voters who choose not to vote and perhaps even vote for a third party,” he continued. “I don’t know how many Republicans will vote for crazy Democrats.”
DeSantis went on to say that if he performs poorly, it’s for Republican candidate Randy Fire. The governor noted that the fines live outside the Brevard County district.
“I’ll quiz whether Trump supports it, but that’s a separate question from why voters respond when they’re low performance. I think that’s the local reason, I think it’s a candidate-specific reason.
DeSantis’ comments are because Trump faces one of the most important political exams of his second administration, as long as he heads towards the Wisconsin and Florida polls. Florida has two deep red house seats available in the state’s first and sixth legislative districts. Republicans are expected to win the 1st Congressional District, perhaps the state’s most conservative House district.
However, Republicans are increasingly nervous about the race to replace national security adviser Mike Waltz in District 6, with him and Trump winning more than 30 points in November.
Democratic candidate Josh Weil announced last month that his campaign raised about $10 million and began airing ads in the district in early March. Meanwhile, the fines raised less than $1 million. Weil also keeps the issues of around $8.2 million to $895,000. On top of that, an internal vote from Republican company Fabrizio Ward showed Weil holds a three-point lead over the fine.