I’ve been blogging about DeSantis’ achievements for some time, but a whole bunch of new ones just happened. I want to make sure that people have a good grasp on everything that he’s is accomplishing. How else would you choose a candidate for president, except by looking at what battles he’s fought and won? DeSantis has just visited Iowa and New Hampshire, and I’ll cover that too.

So, here come the stories.

High tourism and low unemployment:

Gov. Ron DeSantis’ office celebrated that Florida witnessed a record 37.9 million visitors in the first quarter of 2023, the highest ever recorded in a quarter.

That tally includes 34.6 million domestic visitors and 1.8 million international.

[…]Florida’s unemployment rate also held at a low 2.6% for April, which the governor’s office bragged is the lowest “among the top 10 largest states.”

Florida’s new six-week abortion ban:

In a recent interview, Trump said that the six-week abortion ban recently signed into law by DeSantis may be “too harsh” in the eyes of “many people within the pro-life movement.”

[…]“What are your thoughts on that?” DeSantis was asked.

[…]“As a Florida resident, you know, he didn’t give an answer about, ‘would you have signed the heartbeat bill that Florida did?’” he continued. “That had all the exceptions that people talk about the legislature put it in.”

[…]“I signed the bill. I was proud to do it. He won’t answer whether he would sign it or not.”

No sex-reassignment surgeries on kids:

Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a bill to ban sex reassignment surgeries and medications for minors Wednesday.

[…]State funds are prohibited from being used for these treatments. This includes state counties, municipalities, districts and commissions.

Physicians are required to receive written informed consent from adults receiving the surgeries or prescriptions.

The governor said it also gives the Florida courts temporary jurisdiction to intervene and halt procedures for out-of-state children.

“You have actually some states in this country that want to be a haven for these types of procedures, and even welcome minors without their parents consent,” DeSantis said. “We’re obviously doing the opposite here.”

No pronouns required in Florida schools:

Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a bill into law Wednesday that will prohibit a school from requiring students and teachers to use preferred pronouns and adds guidelines for books that citizens wish to challenge in schools.

“We’re not doing the pronoun olympics in Florida. It’s not happening here,” DeSantis said.

DeSantis said the law, HB 1069, makes sure that Florida students and teachers will “never be forced to declare pronouns in school, or be forced to use pronouns not based on biological sex.”

“There’s a lot of nonsense that gets floated around and what we’ve said in Florida is, we are going to remain a refuge of sanity, and a citadel of normalcy, and kids should have an upbringing that reflects that,” DeSantis said.

No kids at drag queen shows:

 Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a bill into law to penalize businesses and people who admit children into “adult live performances.”

[…]The law authorizes Florida to fine, suspend, or revoke the license of any public establishment that admits a child to “adult live performances” that depict or simulate nudity, sexual conduct, or lewd exposure.

Pre-game prayer is allowed:

Gov. Ron DeSantis signed legislation to protect youth sports in Florida on Wednesday, which will also allow high school teams to pray before games.

[…]“You have a right to free expression of religion. If government is denying your right to say a prayer before the game, they are infringing your speech, you’re not violating anything, but by doing that, and so for them to do it is discriminatory,” DeSantis said.

Add these actions to the list of previous DeSantis actions:

• • universal school choice
  • making collection of union dues optional for teachers
  • flying illegal immigrants to Massachusetts
  • elect conservatives to school boards
  • teach students about the historical record of communism
  • ban grooming of young children
  • protect wildlife
  • banning biological males from women’s sports
  • punishing Big Tech social media companies for censoring conservatives

Finally, let’s see where DeSantis has been traveling to ahead of the 2024 GOP primaries.

Iowa:

“Governing is not about entertaining. Governing is not about building a brand or talking on social media and virtue signaling,’” said DeSantis at a fundraising event in Sioux Center. “It’s ultimately about winning and producing results.”

The Florida governor has emerged as the most formidable threat to Donald Trump’s securing the GOP nomination.

He’s presented himself to voters as a staunch conservative without Trump’s distinctive abrasiveness.

Trump was scheduled to host his own Iowa event Saturday in Des Moines, but canceled the event due to a tornado warning.

While Trump and his campaign have raged against DeSantis, the governor has been hesitant to criticize the ex-president who endorsed his gubernatorial campaign in 2018.

DeSantis told voters that in order for conservatives to secure victories in the upcoming elections, they need to remain focused on the issues and “reject the culture of losing,” appearing to reference Biden’s 2020 election victory over Trump.

“We must reject the culture of losing that has impacted our party in recent years. The time for excuses is over,” DeSantis told prospective voters.

“If we get distracted, if we focus the election on the past or on other side issues, then I think the Democrats are going to beat us again.”

And New Hampshire:

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis traveled to New Hampshire late this week where he met with voters, state lawmakers, and the state’s governor just days ahead of his anticipated announcement that he will be running for president in 2024.

DeSantis met with voters at the Red Arrow Diner in Manchester where he was very well received by many who thanked him for what he has accomplished in Florida.

DeSantis, 44, focused on talking to voters in the Granite State about economic and family issues like school choice, tax cuts, crime, and inflation, The New York Times reported.

[…]DeSantis has been busy racking up large lists of endorsements in recent days, including 37 state lawmakers in Iowa, approximately 50 state lawmakers in New Hampshire, and 99 out of 113 Republicans in the Florida state legislature.

[…]“These fights are not easy,” DeSantis said. “I think when you look, there’s a reason why things have gotten crazy in this country, because there’s a lot of powerful people that want it to be, a lot of institutions push that direction. When you kind of step out and you speak truth, you get a lot of blowback for that, but I think what I found in Florida is no governor ever received more incoming, I would say in modern history, than me, during my first term, particularly with COVID, but it really went on after that, a lot of narratives generated.”

Interesting that he mentioned COVID, as Donald Trump recently criticized DeSantis for opening up his state, comparing him unfavorably to NEW YORK GOVERNOR ANDREW CUOMO. Yes, really. And you might remember that Trump issued commendations to “Operation Warp Speed” members, including Deborah Birx and Anthony Fauci. Something to think about.