Florida Governor Ron DeSantis saw two more of his endorsed candidates lose their elections on Tuesday, including a shock defeat in Jacksonville where a Democrat won a key mayoral race in DeSantis' backyard.
The defeat of his anointed candidates dents the prestige of DeSantis, who is expected to announce soon he is running for president in 2024 and will face off against former President Donald Trump in the GOP primary.
DeSantis had endorsed Republican Daniel Davis in the Jacksonville mayoral election in Florida, but he lost to Democrat Donna Deegan by a 52 percent to 48 percent margin after the pair advanced into a runoff earlier this year.
Deegan's victory will be seen as a major blow to the GOP. Jacksonville, which has around one million residents, was the largest city in the country with a Republican mayor, Lenny Curry, who could not seek re-election for a third term due to term limits.
Not only had Davis received the backing of DeSantis, who endorsed him in March, the candidate had out-fundraised Deegan by a four-to-one-margin during his campaign.
Also on Tuesday, DeSantis decided to wait until the very last moment to endorse a candidate in the Kentucky GOP gubernatorial race, opting to back a candidate who was behind in the polls.
DeSantis publicly endorsed Kelly Craft, a former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, just hours before the polls closed in the May 16 primary race. The move set up a proxy war between DeSantis and Trump, as the former president had endorsed Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron to become the Bluegrass state's next mayor.
Not only did the Trump-backed Cameron go on to win the race to set up a face-off against Democratic Governor Andy Beshear in November, but Craft ultimately finished in third place behind Kentucky Agriculture Commissioner Ryan Quarles.
The Florida governor also saw several of his picks lose their races in November's midterms.
Among some of the losing candidates that DeSantis backed were MAGA and 2020 election-denying figures also endorsed by Trump, including Arizona gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake.
While not backing him during the first election, DeSantis eventually endorsed Georgia Senate candidate Herschel Walker in the runoff, which the Republican lost to Raphael Warnock.
List of Ron DeSantis' Recent Losing Endorsements
U.S. Senate Hopefuls
Mehmet Oz - Pennsylvania
Joe O'Dea - Colorado
Don Bolduc - New Hampshire
Blake Masters - Arizona
Herschel Walker - Georgia run-off
Adam Laxalt - Nevada
Gubernatorial Hopefuls
Kelly Craft - Kentucky
Tim Michels - Wisconsin
Mark Ronchetti - New Mexico
Paul LePage - Maine
Doug Mastriano - Pennsylvania
Kari Lake - Arizona
Lee Zeldin - New York
Derek Schmidt - Kansas
Mayoral Candidate
Daniel Davis - Jacksonville, Florida
Republican National Committee (RNC) Chair
Harmeet Dhillon
In December 2022, the Democratic National Committee sent an email entitled "YIKES: Ron DeSantis Endorsed a Bunch of Losers" noting how many of his chosen candidates had lost their midterm races following Walker's run-off defeat.
"Despite standing shoulder-to-shoulder with liars, election deniers, abortion extremists, and the most extreme MAGA candidates in the country all year long, DeSantis's support in the midterm elections fell flat on its face," the DNC wrote.
Newsweek has contacted DeSantis' office for comment via email.
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Ewan Palmer is a Newsweek News Reporter based in London, U.K. His focus is reporting on US politics, domestic policy ... Read more
