Florida Governor Ron DeSantis won’t have to quit his current job to pursue a promotion to the White House if the Sunshine State’s top two lawmakers get their way, according to a report.
Incoming Florida House Speaker Paul Renner, a Republican, said he supports changing a state law that would require DeSantis to resign in order to run for president. DeSantis has not announced plans for a 2024 White House bid, but he is widely seen as a formidable primary competitor to former President Trump, who is running again.
“A good idea,” Renner called the suggestion of repealing the so-called “resign to run” law.
Renner spoke Tuesday after his colleagues formally elected him to lead the state’s lower chamber. New Senate President Kathleen Passidomo said she was on board with the change, too.
“If Speaker Renner thinks it’s a good idea, I think it’s a good idea,” she told reporters.
Fla House Speaker @Paul_Renner says he’s willing to change state law during 2023 session so @GovRonDeSantis can run for president without having to resign. Called it a “good idea.”
— Gary Fineout (@fineout) November 22, 2022
The law states that “Any officer who qualifies for federal public office must resign from the office he or she presently holds if the terms, or any part thereof, run concurrently with each other.” But legal experts differ on how it might apply to a presidential run by DeSantis, who was re-elected as governor November 8 with a victory margin of nearly 20 percentage points.
New Senate President Kathleen Passidomo @Kathleen4SWFL says it would be an honor to have someone from Fla running for president and agrees with Renner it would be good idea to change law
— Gary Fineout (@fineout) November 22, 2022
Jon Mills, a constitutional law professor at the University of Florida, said in October it could depend on how far DeSantis got in a White House bid.
“The statute in text does say federal,’’ he said. “The question is when? What does ‘qualification’ mean, in terms of running for president? Does it mean you are the final nominee or is it when you qualify for the first primary state?”
But Pinellas County Supervisor of Elections Julie Marcus wrote on her website that the law would not apply to a DeSantis effort to trade Tallahassee for Washington.
“The “resign-to-run” law prohibits an officer from qualifying as a candidate for another state, district, county or municipal public office if the terms or any part overlap with each other unless the officer submits a resignation from the office the person presently holds,” she wrote. “Therefore, the “resign-to-run” law would not preclude a sitting state, district, county, or municipal officer from qualifying as a candidate for federal office without resigning from the office the person presently holds as long as the officer is not also seeking to qualify for re-election to his or her present office.”
So far, only Trump has announced a 2024 bid. But a new poll from Iowa, where the presidential primary season gets underway every four years with the Iowa caucuses, showed Hawkeye State Republicans narrowly favor DeSantis over Trump, given the choice for 2024.
The Neighborhood Research and Media poll, released on Monday, showed 32% of respondents picked DeSantis as their first choice to run for president, followed by Trump at 30%. The poll reflects a mammoth 23-point swing toward DeSantis from June, when Trump was the favorite among 38% of respondents and DeSantis was favored by only 17%, and an even bigger 46% reversal from November 2021, when Trump led 56%-12%.