DeSantis: Florida ‘is a Republican state’

Gov. Ron DeSantis declared Florida “is a Republican state” Sunday, emphasizing the prevailing dominance of conservative values within its borders.

In an interview on Fox’s “Sunday Morning Futures” with host Maria Bartiromo, DeSantis said the state is close to having 900,000 more registered Republicans than Democrats. 

“Florida is off the board. It is a Republican state. You’ve covered politics. We used to be a one-point state, every election hung on how would Florida go; that is not true anymore. And I think that’s a good thing for the party,” DeSantis told Bartiromo.

DeSantis attributed the shift in voter registration to individuals already living in the state switching parties and to newcomers to the state.

“I do think that migration has skewed amongst people who come to Florida not because they want to change the policies to reflect in Illinois or California or New York, but because they appreciate how Florida has done it differently from where they’re coming,” he said.

Bartiromo also questioned DeSantis on the Biden administration’s immigration policies and their impact on Florida.

“We’ve had examples of people that had been deported multiple times, came in under Biden’s open border, find their way to Florida and then commit criminal offenses,” DeSantis said.

Bartiromo asked DeSantis if he intended to run for president again in 2028, to which he said, “I don’t have any plans for the future.”

“I think we’re focused a lot on all the great things we’re doing in Florida. I am very, very confident that Florida is going to be a strong performance for Republicans up and down the ticket and we’ve worked very hard to bring it to this point. And I’m excited about that,” he said.