Florida’s first lady Casey DeSantis joins her husband to help with Hurricane Ian recovery

Ron DeSantis’ wife, Casey, stepped in to help with the Florida Hurricane Ian response and relief, as the pair launched themselves further into the limelight amid rumors of potential national ambitions.

The first lady of the Sunshine State, who was completely clear of breast cancer earlier this year, announced that the Florida Disaster Fund raised more than $1.5 million in less than 24 hours.

During a news conference with her husband Thursday morning about the state’s response to the destruction to date of the Category 4 hurricane, Casey, 42, took the microphone to pledge her commitment to removing obstacles for residents and businesses to receive funds. to help them recover from the storm’s damage.

Lee County Sheriff Carmine Marceno ‘confirmed’ that fatalities are ‘in the hundreds’.

“The people of the state and the country have made a tremendous effort to support our Florida Disaster Fund. So far, in less than 24 hours since we launched the fund, we’ve raised $1.6 million,” Ms. DeSantis announced.

She also said she is in constant contact with those who will help distribute the funds and get it to the people who need it.

“Thank you for your commitment and please keep doing it,” she said.

President Joe Biden, 79, also spoke with Governor DeSantis, 44, on Thursday morning after he approved a “declaration of a major disaster” overnight.

Florida’s first couple has been thrust into the spotlight, with many Republicans claiming they want to see Florida’s governor elected president in 2024 or 2028. Some have even expressed their preference for DeSantis as a candidate over former President Donald Trump.

Florida’s first couple married in September 2010 and have three children: two daughters, Madison (center) and Mamie (left), and a son, Mason (right). Gov. DeSantis announced Casey had breast cancer last year, and in March 2022, she announced she was cancer-free. Mamie was the first baby born in the Florida governor’s mansion in over 50 years

Jill Casey DeSantis, the full name of the Florida First Lady, was previously a news and television show host. She hosted programs on the Golf Channel early in her career and was a local newscaster and anchor for WJXT, an independent station in Jacksonville, Florida. She also created a roundtable discussion show The Chat in 2014 and hosted the daily local talk show First Coast Living and The American Dream program. She also won a regional Suncoast Emmy Award and was named “one of the most recognizable faces on television in Jacksonville” by Florida Politics in 2018.

Hurricane Ian, which DeSantis described as a “once every 500 years” event, propelled the pair further onto the national stage, with all eyes on Florida as the formidable Category 4 storm made landfall on Wednesday.

Ron DeSantis, then a naval officer at Naval Station Mayport, met his current wife on a golf course. They married in September 2010 and share two daughters, Madison and Mamie, and a son, Mason.

Governor DeSantis announced his wife’s breast cancer diagnosis in October 2021. On March 3, 2022, he announced that she had been declared cancer-free after treatment and surgery.

Two months after she was cured of cancer, DeSantis and her husband went on a campaign campaign by accompanying him to so-called “DeSantis Day” in May at The Villages, a senior citizen community, in Sumter County, Florida.

Hurricane Ian hit Florida’s Gulf Coast on Wednesday as a Category 4 storm, killing hundreds and destroying at least millions. The Florida Disaster Fund raised $1.6 million in less than 24 hours after launch, Casey DeSantis said. Pictured: A man cleans up in the wake of Hurricane Ian, which brought 150mph winds, flooding and a 5m wall of water in some areas

“Governor, I don’t know if this sounds very first lady-esque, but damn it feels good to be here,” she said after being welcomed onstage by her husband. “Let me say this, no matter what you’re going through in life, no matter how hard things seem to be, no matter how hard it feels like you have to pick yourself up off the floor, or you feel like your back is against the wall, fight! Fight like hell!’

“There are no words to express how blessed, grateful and humbled I am to hear the words cancer free,” Casey said at the time. “For those who are in battle, know that there is hope. Have faith and stay strong.’

In early August, she unveiled Florida Cancer Connect, an online program and tool aimed at providing information about cancer treatment to Floridians directly from others in the state who have experienced it.

Administration DeSantis (second from right) hasn’t exactly aligned himself with Donald Trump (second from left), but he’s also engaged in a delicate balancing act that also doesn’t distance him from the 45th president

The DeSantises could become the nation’s next first family as it is rumored that Governor DeSantis has national ambitions and that his name will be mentioned in 2024 or 2028 as a potential GOP presidential candidate. Some Republicans surveyed have even said they would prefer a DeSantis presidency over another Trump term

Florida is the state with the second most new cancer cases.

While Governor DeSantis hasn’t exactly aligned himself with Trump, he hasn’t distanced himself from the 45th president either.

The first Florida couple appeared at Trump’s rally in Estero, Florida, in October 2018.