Ron and Casey DeSantis dazzle Reno Rodeo crowd with three kids in tow

Ron DeSantis captivated a Nevada rodeo crowd alongside his all-American family during a presidential campaign stop Friday night.

Florida Governor, his wife Casey DeSantis, and their three children Madison, 6, Mason, 5, and Mamie, 3, were received by one of the sponsors of the Reno Rodeo in a box with a prime view of the arena, where a attendees could walk by and shake his hand or take a selfie.

“They’re in the right place,” a rodeo attendee told DailyMail.com when asked what he thought about the participation of the 2024 GOP presidential candidate.

Before taking their kids to the rodeo, Ron and Casey stopped to drink beer with veterans in Reno at 9211 VFW Post, also known as “The Bunker.”

Friday’s festivities came the day before Florida Governor DeSantis will be the star guest at the 8th Annual Morning at Nevada PAC’s Basque Fry in Gardnerville, Nevada – just under an hour outside of Reno.

Along with DeSantis at the rodeo was spotted former Nevada Attorney General Adam Laxalt, a longtime ally of Donald Trump who has defected to support DeSantis in the 2024 Republican presidential primary.

Laxalt and DeSantis lived together during their naval officer training, and they have remained good friends over the years.

Both men were officers in the Navy Judge Advocate General’s Corps and served in Iraq.

Laxalt chaired Trump’s 2020 campaign in Nevada, but this time he’s backing DeSantis and leading the pro-DeSantis super PAC Never Back Down.

The ten-day Reno Rodeo is a coveted annual event in western Nevada, where visitors bring out their best boots, biggest cowboy hats, pressed jeans, and flashy belt buckles to watch the competitions, which include bareback riding and barrel racing, as well as bull and Bronc riding. .

Former rodeo president Scott Patterson confirmed that DeSantis is the first-ever presidential candidate to visit the Reno Rodeo.

Event organizers told DailyMail.com that DeSantis wanted to stay Friday night during the festivities because his kids are big fans of bull riding, which is the finale event.

Many in the audience eagerly awaited DeSantis’ arrival, while others were unaware of his presence and simply enjoyed the annual contest.

The general manager of a local company in Reno and Tahoe, who attended Friday night’s rodeo, said he plans to change his registration from independent to Republican so he can vote for DeSantis in the primary.

Richard Harrison, 45, told DailyMail.com that he voted for Donald Trump in the 2016 election, but said he was “too crazy,” so he switched his vote to Joe Biden in 2020.

But the Nevada voter said he fears Biden is “too old” to remain president, and now supports DeSantis.

At the rodeo, DeSantis shook hands as he walked to the stands after meeting face-to-face with the event’s sponsors.

Many would-be voters approached DeSantis to take photos snuggling in the box with the owner of the Reno Rodeo.

Although he was a long way from the Sunshine State, DeSantis seemed right at home. He wore the black pair of boots he often wears to campaign events with jeans, along with a white quarter-zip atop a light blue and plaid button-down.

Casey, who is fast becoming a fashion icon and draws comparisons to former First Ladies Jackie Kennedy and Nancy Reagan, wore a cobalt blue zipper over a white T-shirt and jeans.

The three kids wore matching “RD24” navy blue shirts to promote their father’s bid for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination. The family of five all wore cowboy boots and jeans.

DeSantis will join Laxalt and other Nevada conservatives and leaders Saturday morning at the Basque Fry.

Others in attendance include Nevada Governor Joe Lombardo; pro-Second Amendment media personality Dana Loesch; and Steve Cortes, the national spokesperson for the largest PAC supporting DeSantis’ presidential run, Never Back Down.

Nevada’s presidential primaries are scheduled for Feb. 6, making it one of the earliest states on the Republican schedule, as well as the recently renewed Democratic primary.

The Basque Fry, a festival serving fried lamb testicles, is considered a major event leading up to the Silver State primary.

The dish, also known as “lamb fries,” is emblematic of European Basque culture, and the event, modeled after cookouts held by Laxalt’s grandfather, former Nevada governor Paul Laxalt, pays homage to the family’s Basque heritage.

At the Basque Fry, the chef dredges the tender testicle slices in seasoned flour, dips them in beaten egg, then dredges them again in breadcrumbs before delivering them to a piping hot pan for about 90 seconds, according to the Reno Gazette Journal.

The event typically draws thousands of conservatives from across the state.

DeSantis headlines the event, an encroachment on territory that Trump won decisively in the past two primaries, drawing bitter scorn from the Trump camp.

“I’m not surprised Ron DeSantis is looking for a set b****,” said Trump senior adviser Chris LaCivita NBC news when asked about the Florida Governor’s visit to the Testicle Festival.

That comment did not go down well with Erin Perrine, the communications director of the pro-DeSantis PAC Never Back Down. “The Trump team’s obsession with men’s genitals is more perverse than an awakening grooming book,” Perrine told NBC.

The bigger issue at play is whether DeSantis can push through in Nevada, where Trump has had strong support in the state’s Republican Party but lost the state in both general elections.

“Trump has not won Nevada the last two go-arounds,” Laxalt told NBC. “I was Trump president twice. I don’t see a chance for him to win Nevada in the general election.”

Laxalt’s grandfather Paul Laxalt was Nevada’s governor and represented the state in the U.S. Senate, and the modern Basque Fry is modeled on his grandfather’s cookouts.

Trump advisor LaCivita cast Adam Laxalt as the loser.

“So Adam Laxalt, who lost the gubernatorial race in ’18 and lost the Senate race in ’22, is President Trump lecturing?” LaCivita said. “That’s the pot calling the kettle black.”

Taylor Budowich, the CEO of MAGA Inc., Trump’s top super-PAC, told NBC about DeSantis, “There’s no sign that he can win in any state.”

“It’s evident in their sort of ham-handed approach,” Budowich said. “They’re just largely spinning their wheels without formulating a path to winning a single state.”

MAGA Inc.’s spokesperson Karoline Leavitt even mocked the pro-DeSantis Never Back Down PAC for state ads, with the most recent ad highlighting Florida’s governor’s participation in the Basque Fry.

Leavitt called it a desperate attempt “just to get people to come to DeSantis’ events.”