Ron DeSantis

Ron DeSantis
DeSantis in 2024
46th Governor of Florida
Incumbent
Assumed office January 8, 2019
Lieutenant	Jeanette Nuñez
Preceded by	Rick Scott
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Florida's 6th district
In office January 3, 2013 – September 10, 2018
Preceded by	Cliff Stearns (redistricting)
Succeeded by	Michael Waltz
Personal details
Born	Ronald Dion DeSantis (1978-09-14) September 14, 1978 (age 45) Jacksonville, Florida, U.S.
Political party	Republican
Spouse	Casey Black ​ (m. 2009)​
Children	3
Residence	Governor's Mansion
Education	Yale University (BA) Harvard University (JD)
Signature
Website	Official website
Military service
Branch/service	United States Navy
Years of service	2004–2010 (active) 2010–2019 (reserve)[1]
Rank	Lieutenant commander
Unit	Judge Advocate General's Corps United States Navy Reserve
Battles/wars	Iraq War
Awards	Bronze Star Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal Global War on Terrorism Service Medal Iraq Campaign Medal

This article is part of a series about Ron DeSantis
Early life Military service Electoral history Political positions US House of Representatives Tenure Elections 2012 2014 2016 Governor of Florida Tenure Elections 2018 2022 Coronavirus response Parental Rights in Education Act Feud with Disney Disney v. DeSantis Stop WOKE Act Martha's Vineyard migrant airlift Florida Senate Bill 266 2024 presidential campaign The Courage to Be Free Endorsements Primaries
v t e

Ronald Dion DeSantis (/dɪˈsæntɪs, diː-/; born September 14, 1978) is an American politician serving since 2019 as the 46th governor of Florida. A member of the Republican Party, he represented Florida's 6th congressional district in the U.S. House of Representatives from 2013 to 2018. DeSantis was a candidate for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, withdrawing his candidacy in January 2024.

Born in Jacksonville, DeSantis spent most of his childhood in Dunedin, Florida. He graduated from Yale University and Harvard Law School. DeSantis joined the United States Navy in 2004 and was promoted to lieutenant before serving as a legal advisor to SEAL Team One. He was stationed at Joint Task Force Guantanamo in 2006, and was deployed to Iraq in 2007. When he returned to the U.S. about eight months later, the U.S. attorney general appointed DeSantis to serve as a special assistant U.S. attorney at the U.S. Attorney's Office in the Middle District of Florida, a position he held until his honorable discharge from active military duty in 2010.

DeSantis was first elected to Congress in 2012 and was reelected in 2014 and 2016. During his tenure, he became a founding member of the Freedom Caucus and was an ally of President Donald Trump. He briefly ran for U.S. Senate in 2016, but withdrew when incumbent senator Marco Rubio sought reelection. DeSantis won the Republican nomination for the 2018 gubernatorial election and narrowly defeated the Democratic Party nominee, Tallahassee mayor Andrew Gillum, in the general election by 0.4%.

DeSantis was governor during the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as Hurricane Ian and Hurricane Nicole. He encouraged the passage of the Parental Rights in Education Act. In the 2022 gubernatorial election, he defeated former governor Charlie Crist by 19.4 percentage points, the state's largest margin of victory for a governor's election in 40 years.

On May 24, 2023, DeSantis announced his candidacy for the Republican nomination for president of the United States, and he continued to serve as governor during the campaign. On January 21, 2024, DeSantis withdrew his candidacy and endorsed Trump.^[2]

DeSantis has written two books: Dreams From Our Founding Fathers, published before his first campaign for Congress in 2011, and The Courage to Be Free, published in 2023.