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Ron DeSantis’s advisers are actively preparing for a 2024 presidential bid and his team has already identified hires in key primary states, inside sources said.
Florida’s governor has yet to declare his candidacy for the 2024 election but, after a triumphant showing in the midterms, he is believed to be preparing for a White House run.
Now, two Republicans with knowledge of such talks have told the Washington Post his team met recently to discuss the election.
It was also revealed that DeSantis’ political team has identified multiple potential hires in early primary states, including New Hampshire and Iowa.
Recent polls have shown DeSantis, who is considered Donald Trump’s main rival for the Republican nomination, ahead of the former president.
Surveys have also shown that DeSantis would defeat President Joe Biden if the election were held today.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ advisers are actively preparing for a 2024 White House bid, and his team has already identified potential hires in the primary states.
Florida’s governor has yet to declare his candidacy for the 2024 election, but is believed to be preparing for a White House campaign. Pictured: DeSantis with his family after being sworn in for his second term during a January 2023 inauguration ceremony.
One of the Republicans with knowledge of the talks told the Washington Post that Phil Cox and Generra Peck are involved in ongoing talks about 2024.
Both were two key members of DeSantis’ 2022 re-election team and are expected to play pivotal roles in the governor’s presidential run, if that happens.
DeSantis has won praise for his November re-election campaign as governor, which saw him win over voters even in Democratic strongholds like Miami.
It is believed that he is likely to announce his candidacy this spring, but he has said little about his plans for 2024 and has avoided questions about his candidacy.
Meanwhile, aides say Biden is seriously considering a second term, even though, at 80, he is the oldest person to serve in the White House. Trump is the second oldest person to assume the presidency.
Trump announced his plans to run again in 2024 shortly after last November’s midterm elections. He’s on the road this weekend with stops planned in New Hampshire and South Carolina.
Others expected to fight for the Republican nomination include South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin and former UN ambassador Nikki Haley.
DeSantis would defeat Biden if presidential election were held this month, poll finds
Polls have shown DeSantis, who is considered Trump’s main rival for the Republican nomination, ahead of the former president.
Generra Peck (left) and Phil Cox (right), who were two key members on DeSantis’ 2022 re-election team, are reportedly involved in ongoing talks about 2024 and are expected to play a pivotal role in the governor’s presidential bid , if that happens.
DeSantis is helped both by his youth and by being a fresh face on the national political scene.
He is widely seen as the embodiment of many of the right-wing policies that made Trump so popular, but without the president’s erratic and divisive behavior that alienated independent voters as well as small-c conservatives.
Both Biden and Trump are now under investigation by special counsel for their handling of classified material, and Trump, who had more than 300 documents hidden at Mar-a-Lago and held them for months, could face charges.
Trump’s continued control over many other members of the Republican Party is seen as the key reason why no one has dared to announce their own campaign for the Republican nomination.
Former President Donald Trump participated in his first high-profile campaign events on Saturday with a stop in the early primary states of New Hampshire and South Carolina. Pictured: Trump announced his third consecutive run for the White House at Mar-a-Lago on November 15
Trump could pick some legitimate primary contenders from South Carolina like former state governor Nikki Haley (left), who also served under Trump as US ambassador to the United Nations, and Republican junior Sen. Tim Scott (right ) have been named as possible candidates for 2024 candidates
New Hampshire and South Carolina are battleground states for politicians seeking that party’s presidential nomination, and are among the states politicians turn to when they start their campaigns every four years.
The first state in the nation where a primary contest is held is the Iowa caucus, followed by the primary in New Hampshire, the election in South Carolina, and then another caucus in Nevada.
The four states are closely watched and serve as indicators of how well a primary candidate may fare in the rest of the nation.
In 2020, President Joe Biden performed poorly in the crowded Democratic primary race in both New Hampshire and Iowa, but was later able to gain ground in South Carolina when Rep. Jim Clybrun endorsed the now-President.
Despite Trump winning South Carolina by 14.9 percent against Hillary Clinton in 2016 and by 11.7 points overall against Biden in 2020, support for the former president appears to be slipping.
A South Carolina Policy Council Survey released this week shows that 37 percent of Republican voters in the state want to see Trump as the Republican nominee compared with 47 percent who want to see someone else win the job.
Also, a head-to-head matchup with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis showed Trump losing by almost 20 points.