Name: Hoping to deny DeSantis re-election — and end his presidential hopes — Democrats launch operation ‘Ron Be Gone’
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Hoping to deny DeSantis re-election — and end his presidential hopes — Democrats launch operation ‘Ron Be Gone’

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AdvertisementBy South Florida Sun SentinelMar 15, 2021 at 5:38 pmDemocrats announced formation of “Ron Be Gone” on Monday, a fundraising, advertising and organizing vehicle aimed at preventing Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis from winning re-election next year.A bonus, if they contribute to defeating DeSantis, would be imploding his prospects as a 2024 Republican presidential candidate.AdvertisementEven the name, which sounds like a pest removal product, shows the depth of Democratic animosity toward the Republican governor.“We cannot let this man coast to re-election,” said Coral Springs Commissioner , one of the public leaders of the new effort. “He’s put his own political career above the welfare and well-being of the people of Florida.”AdvertisementSimmons asserted that DeSantis’ approach to governing, particularly the response to the coronavirus pandemic, is motivated by his future political ambitions. “He’s just basically trying to run for president. He’s not even trying to run for re-election. He’s trying to get press hits for running for president,” Simmons said in a telephone interview.“Bring it on,” responded Helen Aguirre Ferré, executive director of the Florida Republican Party, who said the Democrats’ efforts would fail. “Governor DeSantis will win re-election in 2022.” said it has organized as a so-called 527 political organization. That means it can raise and spend unlimited amounts of money.Even though that could, in theory, help the organization raise lots of money from deep-pocketed Democrats on a national level, organizers said their fundraising efforts would be aimed at grassroots donors giving online.Both former President Donald Trump and President Joe Biden tapped into online fundraising to raise mountains of campaign cash.And the model was successfully used by super PACS like American Bridge, Priorities USA and the Lincoln Project as part of their campaigns against Trump. It hasn’t been done as much on the state level, although a similar effort, , led up to the 2020 election by going after then-U.S. Sen. Cory Gardner, R-Colo. Gardner lost.The approach also reflects a reality confronting Democrats in Florida. After Trump won Florida by 3.3 percentage points in 2020, performing significantly better than he did in 2016, and after Democrats have lost 16 of 19 statewide elections since 2008, big-money national party donors may have political campaigns.Ron Be Gone doesn’t have the field to itself. A group called has been formed by Daniel Uhlfelder and has been raising money for its own effort. Uhlfelder, a lawyer from the Panhandle, received lots of media attention last year for traveling the state dressed as the Grim Reaper to draw attention to his criticisms of DeSantis’ handling of the coronavirus pandemic.AdvertisementAs part of the launch, Ron Be Gone released a that depicted DeSantis as a Trump clone.The inaugural video appeared aimed more at firing up people who already don’t like Trump and DeSantis, and might contribute to the effort, than persuading undecided voters. “He’s a laughingstock just like Trump. And now we’re going to vote him out just like Trump. It’s time to get rid of Trumpism for good. It’s time Ron. Be gone.”Three current and former South Florida elected officials were the public spokespeople for the organization as it went public on Monday: Simmons, former state Rep. Cindy Polo, D-Miramar, and former U.S. Rep. Debbie Mucarsel-Powell, a Miami-Dade County Democrat.In a statement released by the new group, Mucarsel-Powell, highlighted DeSantis’ coronavirus response: “While DeSantis is ignoring scientists, he’s focused on helping his wealthy donors skip the line for COVID vaccines in exchange for campaign contributions,” she said.Simmons also focused on DeSantis’ vaccine strategy, citing reports that the governor is presiding over a program that sends, and beneficiaries reward him with campaign contributions. DeSantis consistently has denied that’s what he’s doing and pointed to vaccine distribution efforts in Democratic, lower-income areas.In her statement, Polo said DeSantis has spent the first two years of his term “singularly dedicated to advancing his own political career, not the interests of everyday Floridians.”AdvertisementExpect to see a what organizers described as a “scrappy” digital-first strategy, and not an effort that relies much on old-school TV advertising. Ron Be Gone also may employ a range of political tools: billboards, direct mail and organizing grassroots workers in the field.Behind the scenes, Ron Be Gone involves experienced Democratic strategists and fundraisers and and communications strategist , who has been involved in major political campaigns in Florida and elsewhere.Karp was to Jon Ossoff’s U.S. Senate campaign. Ossoff’s victory over David Perdue in Georgia’s Jan. 6 runoff elections provided Democrats with one of the two seats they needed to assume control of the U.S. Senate.Fort Lauderdale lawyer is Ron Be Gone’s registered agent on organizing paperwork and Blank’s Fort Lauderdale office is listed as its address.Democratic messaging won’t obscure what Floridians are seeing, Ferré said.“Democrats lost Florida badly in 2020 and they are going to lose again in 2022. Governor DeSantis is an unabashed conservative leader who knows how to saves lives and protect the Constitution at the same time,” Ferré said by text message. “No wonder more people say they would rather live in the free state of Florida than in a state with a Democrat governor.”AdvertisementA survey released March 1 by Mason-Dixon Polling &amp; Strategy found 53% of Florida voters approved of DeSantis’ performance and 42% disapproved. That is a net plus for the governor of 11 percentage points, an improvement of the 45% approval rating (and net negative of 4 points) in July, as coronavirus cases were rapidly increasing during the summer surge.Still, it’s much lower than during DeSantis’ political honeymoon when he had 62% approval in March 2019 and a net positive of 38 points.Ron Be Gone said it wouldn’t support a candidate until the party chooses a nominee in the August 2024 primary.So far, a leading candidate — or any official candidate — to take on DeSantis.Twice-weeklyA lunch-hour look at what's trending in Florida politics. &gt; Four years ago, leading Democrats already had been campaigning for months for their party’s nomination, although only one had formally announced his candidacy.In recent weeks, several Democrats have been acting like candidates, ramping up their criticisms of DeSantis and seeking more public attention.AdvertisementAgriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried, the only statewide elected Democrat, and U.S. Rep. Charlie Crist, D-St. Petersburg, who more than a decade ago was the state’s Republican governor, are sounding more and more like candidates for their party’s nomination every day.On Twitter Monday, Crist asked on Twitter why DeSantis “refuse[s] to answer questions about letting his donors skip the vaccine line? This isn’t about politics, it’s about life and death. I’m committed to getting the answers Floridians deserve.”Also Monday, Fried went on MSNBC and tweeted criticism about the “confusion, chaos &amp; corruption of @GovRonDeSantis’ vaccine rollout in the Sunshine State.”In the Mason-Dixon poll, DeSantis led Crist, 52% to 41% and DeSantis led Fried, 51% to 42%.Anthony Man can be reached at or on Twitter @ Advertisement

AdvertisementBy South Florida Sun SentinelMar 15, 2021 at 5:38 pmDemocrats announced formation of “Ron Be Gone” on Monday, a fundraising, advertising and organizing vehicle aimed at preventing Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis from winning re-election next year.A bonus, if they contribute to defeating DeSantis, would be imploding his prospects as a 2024 Republican presidential candidate.AdvertisementEven the name, which sounds like a pest removal product, shows the depth of Democratic animosity toward the Republican governor.“We cannot let this man coast to re-election,” said Coral Springs...

Hoping to deny DeSantis re-election — and end his presidential hopes — Democrats launch operation ‘Ron Be Gone’

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