Who is Ron DeSantis, Republican candidate for president?

If victorious, DeSantis would become third-youngest president to ever be elected

Republican presidential candidate Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks during a campaign event, Tuesday, May 30, 2023, in Clive, Iowa. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall) (Charlie Neibergall, Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)

Many conservatives view Ron DeSantis as a home-run presidential candidate, which is appropriate given his background in baseball.

Before turning into a politician and working his way up to his current role as Florida’s governor, DeSantis was an accomplished baseball player.

In 1991, he was a member of a Dunedin, Florida, team that advanced to the Little League World Series in Williamsport, Pennsylvania. His baseball prowess continued in college when he was a captain at Yale, where he played outfield and batted .336 as a senior. But he wasn’t a legitimate pro prospect, so DeSantis moved on to other things after graduating from Yale.

DeSantis served in the United States Navy from 2004 to 2019, but he also at the same time began his rise in the political world.

DeSantis was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 2012, and after winning reelection in 2014 and 2016, turned his attention to running for governor of Florida. He won his bid to succeed Rick Scott in 2018, and easily won reelection last year as whispers of a run for the White House kept getting louder.

On May 24, DeSantis officially threw his hat into the race for president in 2024.


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