5 things to know about 2024 presidential candidate Ron DeSantis

By Ryan Foley, Christian Post Reporter Friday, September 29, 2023

Republican U.S. presidential candidate Marco Rubio announces the suspension of his presidential campaign during a rally in Miami, Florida, March 15, 2016. | (Photo: Reuters/Carlo Allegri)

He briefly ran for the United States Senate in 2016

While the 2018 Florida gubernatorial election marked his first successful attempt at seeking statewide office, DeSantis ran for the U.S. Senate in 2016 after Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., initially decided not to run for reelection and instead run for president.

Following the Pulse Nightclub shooting in Orlando in June 2016, Rubio, who had since dropped out of the presidential race, reversed his decision not to run for a second term.

DeSantis joined other GOP contenders who had hoped to succeed Rubio in dropping out of the race after Rubio reversed course. The then-U.S. Congressman opted to run for a third term in the U.S. House of Representatives instead.

Although a March 2016 poll conducted by The Washington Post showed DeSantis tied with then-Lt. Gov. Carlos Lopez-Cantrera as the leading GOP candidate in the race to replace Rubio with a large majority of voters undecided, most other polls showed DeSantis losing to then-Rep. David Jolly.

Surveys showing DeSantis behind Jolly include a September 2015 survey from Public Policy Polling, a St. Leo University poll released in December 2015, a December 2015 survey from St. Pete Polls and a March 2016 poll from News 9/Bay News 13.

A June 2016 poll of likely voters showed DeSantis losing to Lopez-Contrera in the Republican Senate primary, while a Mason-Dixon poll released in June 2016 found DeSantis behind another candidate, Carlos Beruff.

Many of the polls conducted after Rubio dropped out of the presidential race in March 2016 found strong support for the idea of a Rubio reelection bid, which may have contributed to DeSantis and most of the other candidates dropping out.