Reeher Quoted in Newsweek Article on the Rise and Fall of Ron DeSantis

January 29, 2024

Newsweek

Grant Reeher

Political Science Department

Campbell Public Affairs Institute

Federal

Political Parties

U.S. Elections

United States

Newsweek

Grant Reeher

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis' 2024 presidential campaign came to an end last week after he struggled to overcome conservatives coalescing around former President Donald Trump amid his legal troubles.

DeSantis dropped out of the Republican presidential primary, saying he does not see a "clear path" to win following his second-place finish in the Iowa caucuses. His announcement came just days before the second nominating contest in New Hampshire.

While DeSantis offered a "better articulated and less inflammatory version" of Trump's agenda without the legal baggage, it remained a question as to why Republican voters would switch candidates, says Grant Reeher, director of the Campbell Public Affairs Institute.

"He was bound in a strange Gordian Knot—he only became a national figure because he was similar to Trump in many ways, but not Trump. Smoother, more refined, younger, better informed on the issues, but still aggressive on policy and willing to fight the cultural battles the Right seems to care about. Is that enough to persuade a loyal Republican voter, who is weighing that against a proven battler? Apparently not," Reeher says.

Read more in the Newsweek article, "The Rise and Fall of Ron DeSantis."