DeSantis to stump for Trump-backed Nevada Senate candidate

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) will campaign alongside Nevada GOP Senate hopeful Adam Laxalt, lending his growing political celebrity to one of former President Trump’s preferred Senate candidates. 

The April 27 “Rise Up” rally in Las Vegas will mark one of the Florida governor’s first public appearances campaigning on behalf of a candidate outside of his home state. While he’s long attended fundraisers and other events across the country, he has so far avoided wading too far into races outside of Florida. 

But in a statement issued through Laxalt’s campaign on Wednesday, DeSantis explicitly announced his support for the former Nevada attorney general, who’s considered the GOP favorite to take on Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) in November in one of the premier Senate races of the 2022 midterm elections. 

“I served in the Navy with Adam, and I can tell you that he won’t back down when it comes to standing for liberty and for what’s right by our great nation,” DeSantis said. “He proved it as Nevada’s Attorney General, and he’ll prove it again as your next Senator. That is why I am proud to support Adam Laxalt in his race to flip the Nevada seat this year and help us win back control of the U.S. Senate.”

DeSantis’s scheduled appearance in Nevada is the latest sign of the Florida governor’s growing clout among conservatives nationally. 

While he is facing reelection himself this year and has insisted that he’s focused only on winning a second term in the governor’s mansion, that hasn’t tamped down speculation about a potential 2024 bid for the Republican presidential nomination. 

Early polling of the prospective 2024 GOP field shows DeSantis as the heir apparent to Trump should the former president decide against making another run for the White House. While Trump is still considered the favorite for the 2024 Republican nod, surveys suggest that DeSantis is the clear second choice.