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DeSantis suspends presidential bid: Why now, and what happens next?

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Published  January 22, 2024 7:51pm EST
Orlando
FOX 35 Orlando

DeSantis suspends presidential bid: What's next?

Voters in New Hampshire suddenly have fewer options for their Tuesday Presidential Primary after Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis suspended his bid for the presidency.

ORLANDO, Fla. - Voters in New Hampshire suddenly have fewer options for their Tuesday Presidential Primary after Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis suspended his bid for the presidency. 

Even people who figured this would happen at some point were a little surprised by the timing.

"I was shocked at how quickly it happened," said Chadwick Hardy, the Former Vice President and Managing Executive Director of Orange County Republicans.

The current Orange County Republican Party Chair, Erin Huntley, had a similar response.

"You never know what will happen during a presidential year," she said.

So why make that decision now? 

"The writing was on the wall for Ron DeSantis," said John Hanley, a Political Science lecturer at the University of Central Florida. 

Part of the decision may have come down to finances. Although DeSantis raised a lot of money at the beginning of his campaign, most of it was locked up until the general election. He actually had less cash on hand than other contenders. 

"They had plenty of money," said Hanley. "They ran through it. They never were able to fundamentally change the dynamic of the race."

Hanley explained that Iowa made it clear: DeSantis was in a race for the "first loser." 

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"He was at risk of hurting his prospects in Florida, hurting his future prospects for something like the Senate. So this was an attempt to just kind of save what he could."

Hardy says at this point, love him or hate him, Former President Donald Trump now owns the Republican Party. So what happens now for the half of the Republican Party that wants something different? 

"Vote for your family," said Hardy. "That is the easiest message I can send to all voters in America at this point."

 "What I would recommend is people get involved locally to make sure that they have people who identify with their values, voting for them on their county level," suggested Huntley. 

Some people wonder whether DeSantis might show up again on the ticket as Trump’s Vice President, though he has said he doesn’t want to. There would also be a constitutional issue that might discourage that.

The Twelfth Amendment states that either the President or Vice President has to be from a different state than the elector. Experts told FOX 35 News that means if Trump and DeSantis ran together, Florida votes couldn’t be counted in their favor. 

"The problem in American politics today is it's so tribal," said Hardy. "We overlook the massive faults on our side and our candidates just so our tribe moves forward. And that's going to blow up in our faces at some point."