governor Ron DeSantis Contact information

Ron DeSantis is the 46th Governor of Florida.

A native Floridian with blue-collar roots, Ron attended Dunedin High School and worked his way through Yale University, where he graduated with honors and was the captain of the varsity baseball team. He also graduated with honors from Harvard Law School. While at Harvard, he earned a commission in the U.S. Navy as a JAG officer. During his active-duty service, Ron deployed to Iraq as an adviser to a U.S. Navy SEAL commander in support of the SEAL mission in Fallujah, Ramadi and the rest of Al Anbar province. His military decorations include the Bronze Star Medal for Meritorious Service and the Iraq Campaign Medal.

Ron also served as a federal prosecutor, where he targeted and convicted child predators. He was elected to Congress in 2012 and advocated for congressional term limits and a balanced budget amendment. He also spearheaded oversight efforts to expose malfeasance in the IRS and in agencies involved in abusing their authority during the manufacturing of the Russia collusion conspiracy theory. Congressman DeSantis was also a leading champion for America’s veterans and helped enact reforms to the VA and place an emphasis on mental health.

Ron is married to Casey DeSantis, an Emmy Award winning television host. Together, they’re the proud parents of their daughters, Madison and Mamie, and their son, Mason.

PUTTING KIDS FIRST AND PROTECTING PARENTS’ RIGHTS

Thanks to the Governor’s leadership, Florida is the most pro-parent, pro-student state in the nation. His policies ensure that every student in Florida has the opportunity to get a quality education. The Governor has provided historic levels of investment in Florida’s K-12 schools, colleges, and universities. Because of this, Florida’s ranking for K-12 student achievement is 3rd in the nation, according to Education Week’s Quality Counts 2021 Report. Florida also ranks 1st in the nation for higher education, according to the U.S. News and World Report.

PUTTING KIDS FIRST AND PROTECTING PARENTS’ RIGHTS

• Keep Schools Open and Reject Lockdowns
• Educate, Don’t Indoctrinate
• Ensure Parental Rights in Education and Keep Woke Gender Ideology Out of Schools
• Support Robust Civics Education
• Expand Workforce Development and Technical Education
• Reject the Use of Critical Race Theory (CRT) in the Curriculum
• Increase Teacher Pay
• Continue Support for School Security and Mental Health Initiatives
• Protect the Right of Parents to Petition School Boards and Districts for Redress of Grievances
• Guarantee the Right of Parents to Curriculum Transparency

PRIORITIZING STUDENTS

Florida led the way by putting students’ needs first. In the summer of 2020, when the media and teachers’ unions advocated lockdowns, Governor DeSantis kept our schools open. As a result, millions of students in Florida did not experience the same learning loss as locked-down states. 

PARENTAL RIGHTS

Governor DeSantis protected parental rights in education: -Banned classroom instruction on sexual orientation and gender ideology for K-3rd grade

• Signed the Parents’ Bill of Rights, prohibiting the state, or any other governmental entity, from infringing on a parent’s ability to decide what is best for their child
• Required school districts to notify parents if there is a change in their child’s mental, emotional, or physical well-being
• Ensured school districts are transparent in the selection of curriculum materials, including library books and reading materials
• Prohibited school districts from force masking students

EDUCATION, NOT INDOCTRINATION

Governor DeSantis has taken a strong stance against any school imposing divisive “what to think not how to think” concepts on their students. The Governor banned educators from teaching students Critical Race Theory (CRT), strengthened civics education and financial literacy, and eliminated Common Core in Florida.

WORLD-CLASS HIGHER EDUCATION SYSTEM

Florida boasts five of the top 100 public universities in the country and charges one of the lowest in-state tuitions in the nation for public four-year institutions. Governor DeSantis expanded eligibility for the Bright Futures Scholarship Program to ensure our best and brightest Floridians can pursue higher education, and for four straight years, he banned tuition hikes for Florida colleges and universities. The Governor is also holding educators accountable by requiring tenured faculty to undergo a review every five years.

SAVING WOMEN’S SPORTS

Governor DeSantis signed the Fairness in Women’s Sports Act in 2021, preserving opportunities for female athletes by ensuring biological women are competing against biological women. He also signed a proclamation that declared Sarasota native Emma Weyant the rightful NCAA champion for the 500-yard freestyle over biological male Lia Thomas.

EXPANDING SCHOOL CHOICE

Thanks to Governor DeSantis, Florida’s school choice options annually allow more than one million students to learn and grow in an educational setting that best fits their needs and is not just based on their zip code. In May of 2021, Governor DeSantis signed House Bill 7045, the largest expansion of school choice in the nation. This legislation provides more education opportunities for low-income families and students with unique abilities and prioritizes military, foster, and adopted students. Governor DeSantis expanded the state’s private school voucher program by $200 million and created scholarships like the Family Empowerment Scholarship which allows K-12 students with unique abilities and low-income students the option to attend private school.

INVESTING IN STUDENTS AND TEACHERS

• Florida now has the highest-ever investment per student
• The Governor provided a historic total of $24.3 billion for K-12 public education this year, which raised teacher pay and improved school safety initiatives
• Last year, Florida teachers received $1,000 bonuses for their hard work
• Governor DeSantis allocated $800 million in this year’s budget to teacher pay raises, raising the teacher average base salary to $48,000 per year
• Trained more than 2,500 teachers in three-day civics bootcamps, and these teachers will each receive $3,000 bonuses

FLORIDA’S ECONOMY IS OUTPACING THE NATION

Thanks to Governor DeSantis’s commitment to Keeping Florida Free, Florida businesses remained open through the pandemic, Florida leads the nation in new business formations, and Florida’s labor force has grown at a faster rate than the national average.

BREAKING RECORDS

Florida welcomed nearly 118 million domestic visitors in 2021, the highest level in state history In 2021, Florida’s market share of overseas travelers was 44.6% of the nation’s total, the highest any state has ever achieved The FY 2021-2022 state surplus tops $21.8 billion, the highest in state history, ensuring Florida is prepared for President Biden’s recession

LARGEST TAX RELIEF PACKAGE IN FLORIDA’S HISTORY

Inflation is an invisible tax weighing on families across Florida and the nation. Governor DeSantis is fighting back against Biden’s reckless policies with the largest tax relief package in Florida history, providing more than $1.2 billion of tax relief for Florida families.

TEN SALES TAX HOLIDAYS, INCLUDING:

• One-month fuel tax holiday
• Three-month sales tax holiday on children’s books
• One-year sales tax holiday on children’s diapers and baby and toddler clothing
• 14-day back to school sales tax holiday
• 14-day disaster preparedness sales tax holiday

PRIORITIZING INFRASTRUCTURE

Governor DeSantis secured historic levels of funding for infrastructure projects. With fewer people on the roads in 2020, Governor DeSantis used this time to accelerate critical infrastructure projects such as the I-4 Ultimate Project. Infrastructure funding for FY 2022–2023 includes:

• $4.4 billion for highway construction, to include 180 new lane miles
• $135 million in seaport infrastructure enhancements
• $314 million for aviation improvements
• $400 million to expand broadband internet access in rural and underserved areas
• $30 million for the Department of Economic Opportunity’s Rural Infrastructure Fund

WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT

In 2019, Governor DeSantis set the goal of making Florida the number one state in the nation for workforce education by 2030. Since taking office, Governor DeSantis has allocated $3.5 billion for workforce education and training initiatives. He has required an annual review of Career and Technical Education (CTE) courses to ensure that course offerings are aligned with market demands. Since 2018, our Florida colleges and district technical colleges have awarded over 500,000 workforce certificates and degrees. Florida has also added more than 50 new apprenticeship programs since 2019. Initiatives like these allow students to enter the workforce in high-demand fields without mounting debt. Additionally, Governor DeSantis is working to ensure affordable housing options for our labor force by putting $363 million toward affordable housing initiatives, the highest funding level in 15 years.

RURAL COMMUNITIES

Governor DeSantis visited all 67 counties in Florida during his first term in office, and he is investing in rural communities across Florida. Governor DeSantis created the Broadband Opportunity Program to expand broadband internet in rural and underserved areas. This year, $30 million has been allocated to the Rural Infrastructure Fund. These infrastructure projects will encourage job creation and capital investment in rural economies. 

KEEPING OUR COMMUNITIES SAFE

Florida communities are ranked among the safest in the nation, and Governor DeSantis is committed to supporting law enforcement and first responders. He signed the most comprehensive pro-law enforcement legislation in the nation, prohibiting defunding the police. If local governments try to defund law enforcement, the Governor and the Cabinet can override them and reinstate the funding. Florida law prohibits employers, including state law enforcement agencies, from imposing vaccine mandates. These policies are leading law enforcement officers from around the country to relocate to work in the Sunshine State.

HISTORIC STATE LAW ENFORCEMENT PAY PACKAGE

• 15% average pay increase
• $50,000 minimum salary
• $15 million towards increased compensation for sheriff deputies and county correctional officers in rural communities

STRONGEST LAW ENFORCEMENT RECRUITMENT AND RETENTION PACKAGE IN THE NATION

• $5,000 bonuses to new law enforcement officers
• Scholarship opportunities for training courses taken by officers relocating from other states

COMBATING THE BORDER CRISIS

Governor DeSantis banned sanctuary cities, and in 2021, he deployed state law enforcement to help secure the southern border, becoming the first state to answer Texas and Arizona’s call for assistance. Under Joe Biden, dangerous drugs like fentanyl are freely flowing across the southern border, creating a nationwide drug and opioid crisis. Fentanyl is now the top killer of adults ages 18-45. To combat the crisis, Governor DeSantis increased the sentence for trafficking fentanyl and added methamphetamine to the list of drugs eligible for life in prison for those who sell them and cause the loss of a life. First Lady Casey DeSantis launched a statewide public messaging campaign to inform the public of the dangers of fentanyl and is educating youth on the life-altering effects of drug use through her The Facts. Your Future. initiative. This initiative reinvents how substance abuse is taught in schools from “Just say no to drugs” to “Just say no to drugs, and here’s why.”

STOPPING VIOLENT RIOTS

The Governor signed hallmark anti-riot legislation, the Combating Public Disorder Act, which holds those committing crimes during violent protests accountable and supports law enforcement officials who risk their lives to keep our communities safe. In the wake of ongoing rioting across the country, Florida took a zero-tolerance policy toward violent and disorderly protests. Governor DeSantis increased penalties for crimes committed during violent assembly, including battery on law enforcement officers, and created penalties for destroying monuments and historic property.

FLORIDA STATE GUARD

In 2022, the Governor re-established the Florida State Guard to enhance Florida’s emergency response efforts. The Governor secured $10 million in the 2022-2023 budget to support 400 civilian volunteer members of the State Guard.

GOVERNOR DESANTIS HAS BEEN ENDORSED BY MAJOR FIRST RESPONDER GROUPS:

• Florida Fraternal Order of Police
• Florida Police Chiefs Association
• Florida Police Benevolent Association
• Florida Professional Firefighters

KEEPING FLORIDA BEAUTIFUL

Florida’s natural resources will be protected for generations to come because of Governor DeSantis’s focus on providing historic funding to protect our environment.

EVERGLADES RESTORATION

Since 2019, nearly 50 Everglades restoration projects have broken ground, hit a major milestone, or finished construction. These projects include:

• EAA Reservoir Project to send clean water south, while reducing damaging discharges from Lake Okeechobee. This project started a year ahead of schedule.
• Raising the Tamiami Trail to increase the flow of clean, fresh water south. The roadbed removal was completed six months ahead of schedule.
• Broke ground on C-43 Reservoir to intercept and store water released from Lake Okeechobee and local stormwater runoff.
• Completed and activated the C-44 Stormwater Treatment Area, which can store 50,000 acre-feet of water and will reduce harmful algal blooms.

Governor DeSantis pledged to secure $2.5 billion over four years for Everglades restoration and protection of water resources, and he surpassed this goal by $800 million, for a total of $3.3 billion over four years.

RED TIDE & BLUE-GREEN ALGAE

Governor DeSantis is committed to combatting red tide and harmful algal blooms. He restored the Red Tide Task Force in 2019, which had been dormant for over 15 years. Since he took office, over $40 million has been invested to combat red tide and aid local governments in cleanup efforts. In 2019, Governor DeSantis created the Blue-Green Algae Task Force to ensure that objective and sound science informs Florida’s environmental decision process.

OFFICE OF ACCOUNTABILITY

The Office of Environmental Accountability and Transparency was created to organize and direct scientific research and analysis, address environmental concerns most pressing to Floridians, and ensure environmental objectives are clearly communicated to the public. Governor DeSantis appointed the state’s first Chief Science Officer to lead the Office of Environmental Accountability and Transparency.

RESILIENT FLORIDA PROGRAM

In 2021, the Resilient Florida Program was established to better prepare Florida’s coastal and inland communities for the impacts of intensified storms and flooding. Since 2019, $1.1 billion has been secured for resiliency planning and projects. The Governor created the Office of Resilience and Coastal Protection and appointed the state’s first Chief Resilience Officer.

INVASIVE SPECIES

Over the last four years Governor DeSantis invested $5.6 million in python removal efforts. To combat the invasive species, over 17,000 Burmese pythons have been removed from the state since 2000, more than half of which have been removed since Governor DeSantis took office. The Florida Python Challenge®, an annual ten-day conservation effort in the Everglades to remove these predators, had more than 600 registrants last year.

FLORIDA WILDLIFE CORRIDOR

Governor DeSantis signed the Florida Wildlife Corridor Act into law, officially designating the Florida Wildlife Corridor as a network of connected conservation lands with a goal of permanently connecting land to allow wildlife to move safely throughout the state, unimpeded. The Florida Department of Environmental Protection was directed to invest in land acquisition and conservation easements to address habitat loss and fragmentation, enhancing areas critical to wildlife survival. Three hundred million dollars was appropriated for the Florida Wildlife Corridor, and since 2019, over 100,000 acres within the corridor have been acquired. 

MANATEE PROTECTION

More than $50 million has been dedicated to manatee protection during Governor DeSantis’s administration to enhance and restore manatee habitats. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, along with partners like SeaWorld, are working to nurse manatees back to health and return them to the wild.

FIGHTING SPECIAL

INTERESTS Governor DeSantis fights for the best interests of all Floridians. He does not bend the knee to special interests and will never back down to the media.

BIG MEDIA

Governor DeSantis does what’s right for Floridians, despite what the hysterical media says about him. The corporate media lied about Florida’s COVID response, and now study after study confirms that Florida did the right thing.

BIG TECH

In 2021, Governor DeSantis signed a bill that holds Big Tech accountable and ensures that Floridians have protection against Silicon Valley elites. Under Senate Bill 7072, Floridians censored by Big Tech platforms have the right to sue companies and be awarded monetary damages.

BIG PHARMA

Governor DeSantis is committed to lowering drug costs for Floridians. In July 2022, he issued Executive Order 22-164 to drive transparency and provide cheaper drugs for Floridians. This order increased access to life saving medication and reformed state contracts with Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBMs) to negotiate lower prices for prescription drugs ineligible for importation, such as insulin and epinephrine.

Governor DeSantis also developed a plan to safely import drugs from Canada. With this order and other actions, Florida continues to lead the nation in holding the health care industry accountable, combating rising prescriptions costs, and putting Floridian patients first.

BIG SUGAR

In the 2022 legislative session, Governor DeSantis vetoed a bill that was created to favor the sugar industry, rather than the Everglades. Governor DeSantis stated in his veto letter that the bill created “unnecessary and redundant regulatory hurdles” that would hinder Everglades restoration projects.

PROTECTING THE INTEGRITY OF OUR ELECTIONS

Governor DeSantis promised to clean up Florida’s elections, and one of his first acts as Governor was removing bad-faith election supervisors. Since 2019, Governor DeSantis has secured nearly $18 million for cyber security and election hardware improvements to make elections more secure and $53 million for state-level election oversight focusing on election integrity and security.

Days after the 2020 presidential election, many states were still counting ballots. In contrast, Florida had 4.8 million vote by mail ballots canvassed prior to Election Day and 11.1 million Florida ballots counted prior to 11:00 pm on Election Day. Because of Governor DeSantis, Floridians can be confident that their vote counts.

SECURING OUR ELECTIONS

Governor DeSantis has:

• Banned Zuckerbucks so Big Tech moguls cannot influence Florida elections
• Made ballot harvesting a felony
• Required supervisors of elections to check voter rolls for ineligible voters
• Strengthened voter ID requirements for mail-in ballots
• Banned mass mailing of ballots
• Created an Election Crimes and Security Office to stamp out voting fraud

THE MOST VETERAN-FRIENDLY AND PRO-MILITARY STATE

As a Navy veteran, Governor DeSantis understands the importance of honoring and supporting our veterans, military members, and their families.

SUPPORTING VETERANS

Since taking office, Governor DeSantis has dedicated more than $32 million to improve veteran facilities and build new state veterans’ nursing homes. In November 2021, Governor DeSantis announced $8.6 million towards expanding career and workforce training for military veterans and spouses seeking employment. He has provided scholarships for disabled veterans to attend higher education institutions, and in April 2022, Governor DeSantis signed a bill establishing a pilot program for veteran suicide prevention.

In June 2022, First Lady Casey DeSantis announced the launch of the Continue the Mission initiative, which recruits former law enforcement officers, veterans, and military spouses to be child protective investigators, Department of Children and Families case managers, and mentors to children in need. This initiative provides flexible career opportunities for former law enforcement, veterans, and military spouses who still have a desire to serve their communities.

SUPPORTING MILITARY FAMILIES 

Governor DeSantis supports our active-duty military and their families who relocate to our state and allocated nearly $12 million to infrastructure, workforce education, and job creation for military communities. The Governor has led various programs such as the Salute Our Soldiers Military Loan Program and the Hometown Heroes Housing Program to assist active-duty military, veterans, and their families in the home-buying process.

STANDING UP FOR MOMS AND FLORIDA FAMILIES

As a father of three young children, Governor DeSantis leads our state with Florida families in mind.

SUPPORTING ACTIVE FATHERHOOD

This year, Governor DeSantis secured nearly $70 million in funding to address the fatherlessness crisis in Florida. This funding will be used for educational programs, to increase mentorship opportunities for families, and to encourage responsible and involved fathers.

SUPPORTING FLORIDA’S FOSTER FAMILIES

Governor DeSantis has shown his commitment to supporting foster families by increasing monthly payments to those who serve as caregivers to foster children, increasing monthly support to cover childcare for foster children, and expanding postsecondary education opportunities for foster children. The Freedom First Budget includes nearly $361 million to provide services for foster parent support and adoption services. Because of this commitment, Florida has the best results for child permanency among the country’s ten most populous states:

Lowest

• Average length of time in foster care

• Percentage of children in foster care for more than five years

• Percentage of children waiting for adoption who have spent over five years in foster care

• Average length of stay for children waiting to be adopted Highest

• Percentage of children adopted from foster care by relatives

HOPE FLORIDA - A PATHWAY TO PROSPERITY:

Uniting communities through ‘Hope Navigators’ to guide Floridians on an individualized path to prosperity, economic self-sufficiency, and hope.

Spearheaded by First Lady Casey DeSantis, Hope Florida utilizes ‘Hope Navigators’ to guide Floridians on an individualized path to prosperity by focusing on community collaboration between the private sector, faith-based community, non-profits, and government entities, to break down traditional community silos, in an effort to maximize resources and uncover opportunities.

Hope Navigators are essential in helping individuals identify their unique and immediate barriers to prosperity, develop long term-goals, map out a strategic plan, and work to ensure all sectors of the community have a ‘seat at the table’ and are part of the solution.

Hope Florida’s Care Portal technology connects the needs of struggling Florida families with faith and community partners. A Hope Navigator identifies a need, inputs it into the Care Portal, and a real-time message is sent to all participating organizations. 

Beneficiaries include, but are not limited to, struggling single parents, pregnant mothers battling addiction, children aging out of the foster care system, and foster and adoptive parents.

PRIORITIZING CARE FOR SENIORS

Governor DeSantis understands the importance of putting our seniors first. The Governor prioritized seniors during the pandemic and ensured their rights and well-being were preserved. Governor DeSantis made sure that seniors were the first to receive COVID treatment and that senior care facilities had ample supplies of COVID tests.

Governor DeSantis signed the No Patient Left Alone Act, which guarantees Florida families the right to visit their loved ones in hospitals, hospices, and long-term care facilities.

Florida has also led the nation in raising awareness and expanding access to monoclonal antibody treatments. Wally and Doris Cortese, a couple from Cape Coral who have been married for 62 years, were two Floridians who utilized monoclonal treatments and made full recoveries from COVID.

PRO-LIFE PRIORITIES

Governor DeSantis signed legislation prohibiting abortions after 15 weeks of gestation to protect the lives of Florida’s most vulnerable. He understands that life is a sacred gift worthy of our protection.

HISTORIC VICTORY

Governor Ron DeSantis proved to the world that freedom is here to stay in the State of Florida with a historic win on November 8, 2022.

After leading Florida with commonsense and conviction throughout his first term,

Governor DeSantis delivered a record-setting victory of nearly 20 points, earning his second term by the largest raw vote margin in state history winning by more than 1.5 million raw votes.

Governor DeSantis’ history-making success reflects four years of strong leadership and a policy agenda that generated a sea-change in Florida’s partisan voter registration makeup. Governor DeSantis delivered for Floridians across the board. Governor DeSantis’ record-setting election night results are proof positive that his Freedom Agenda resonated with Floridians in every corner of the state.

In a world gone mad, Florida was the only safe haven for freedom and sanity.

No matter what he was up against — corporate media, the woke Left, or bureaucratic elites — Governor DeSantis never backed down in standing up for the people he serves.

When the COVID-19 pandemic sent the world into a frenzy of tyrannical lockdowns and unchecked government overreach, Governor DeSantis stood strong to keep the state of Florida free and open.

He fought to make sure that businesses could remain open, students could stay in school, and families were able to visit their loved ones during moments that mattered most.

Through his first term, Governor DeSantis worked to lift people up, not tear them down. Floridians overwhelmingly showed up to support Governor DeSantis on Election Day because he first supported them.

Governor DeSantis’s Freedom Agenda generated historic support across the state. The governor’s extensive policy achievements ––particularly his work to deliver tax relief to working families, protect parents’ rights, raise teacher pay, restore the Everglades, and protect individual freedoms –– attracted unprecedented support from nontraditional voting blocs.

In the closing weeks of the election, the campaign announced it knocked on two million unique doors across the state of Florida and First Lady Casey DeSantis’ Mamas for DeSantis initiative successfully mobilized more than 1.1 million Florida mamas.

Governor DeSantis won in every corner of the state –– including once-liberal bastions.

Governor DeSantis found overwhelming support from the Florida Panhandle to South Beach, winning 62 total counties, including Palm Beach and Miami-Dade counties.

One thing was made clear during the 2022 election, thanks to Governor DeSantis’ proven leadership, freedom is here to stay in Florida. And he has only begun to fight.