Is Casey DeSantis setting the stage to run for governor of Florida?

Sylvester Stallone recently announced that he and his wife Jennifer Flavin had decided to permanently move from California to Palm Beach, Florida. As he addressed his three daughters in a scene on the reality show “The Family Stallone,” the iconic actor said: “After long, hard consideration, your mother and I have decided, time to move on and leave the state of California permanently, and we’re going to go to Florida.”

The likely reasons involve three main factors: a change of scenery, a less crime-infested environment and a lowering of their state tax burden. Whatever the real motivations, what was of most interest to me was that Casey DeSantis — the first lady of Florida — used the clip from Stallone in an intriguing social media post.

DeSantis posted to her over 500K followers on X: “Welcome to the Free State of Florida! In addition to respecting and protecting your God-given, constitutional right to be free, you can also buy toothpaste without having an armed guard in CVS unlock it for you.”

Now, maybe the first lady of Florida only posted that message to be neighborly and hint to the Stallones that if they ever needed a cup of sugar, they were more than welcome to knock on her door. Or maybe she did it to begin to set the stage for her own political move a couple years hence.

I have written in this space in the past that I believe Casey DeSantis would be a formidable candidate should she ever attempt to succeed her husband as governor of the Sunshine State. The argument can certainly be made that if Republicans and independents hope for the “DeSantis Doctrine” to survive, it would be all but mandatory for Casey DeSantis to run for the office. 

The bench behind Ron DeSantis is not strong. While Florida Lt. Gov. Jeanette Nunez is a very able politician, many Floridians don’t even know her name. The same holds true for other possibilities being floated to succeed the term-limited DeSantis.

By almost every measure used by Republicans, conservatives and people of faith, Ron DeSantis has been an incredibly successful governor, who many view as having saved the state from the draconian Covid dictates implemented by various blue states around the nation — one of the reasons Casey DeSantis said “Welcome to the Free State of Florida” in her response to Stallone. Those same voters believe it essential that the DeSantis policies carry on once he leaves office in January 2027.

Elections are won via toughness, intelligence, name recognition, perception and money. Casey DeSantis easily checks all of those boxes. 

First, she is a self-made woman. After graduating from college, she worked for the PGA Tour as a producer and on-air host. She later worked for two television stations in Jacksonville, where she held positions ranging from general assignment reporter, police beat reporter, weekend anchor to morning anchor. DeSantis received an Emmy Award for on-air talent and two Emmy nominations. More than that, she is a breast-cancer survivor, a mother of three young children and a highly experienced campaign operative.

There is no doubt that she was her husband’s most trusted and most valuable advisor during his two successful campaigns for governor, as well as his presidential campaign. There is also little doubt that Casey DeSantis not only catalogued precisely what worked well on those campaign trails, but what failed — priceless lessons when contemplating a future run for office.

As for “name recognition,” Casey DeSantis not only has it in abundance, but saw that name recognition climb even higher thanks to her Stallone post, which was reported by numerous news sites.

Next, we come to “perception.” Casey DeSantis is viewed as tough, intelligent, driven by personal beliefs and faith, and as a survivor. Key ingredients for any candidate looking to win over voters.

Last, we come to “money.” Given her position as the first lady of Florida as well as her husband’s most trusted campaign advisor, she has come in contact with a rolodex of major donors, both in Florida and nationwide. Donors who would look quite favorably upon her campaign should she decide to run.

As the DeSantis family found out during the governor’s failed campaign for president, nothing should ever be taken for granted in politics or on the campaign trail. Will the “DeSantis Doctrine” survive once he leaves office? Could the Democrats flip the seat and unravel most or all of his policies? Could the “Free State of Florida” be turned into a carbon copy of California, New York and New Jersey?

The answer for some on the right is surely, “In a nano-second should the statehouse be lost to the Democrats.”

The Casey DeSantis post on X got millions of views on multiple sites. Again, if she simply wanted to be neighborly, good for her. But if it was an attempt to raise her profile while offering up a conservative and principled talking point, she clearly succeeded.

Casey DeSantis would be a logical and formidable candidate to replace her husband. Her post to Stallone will only remind voters, donors, the media and the Democratic Party that she can create a news cycle when needed and that she does have the toughness, intellect and name recognition to hit the ground running — should she choose to do so.

Douglas MacKinnon, a political and communications consultant, was a writer in the White House for Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush, and former special assistant for policy and communications at the Pentagon during the last three years of the Bush administration.