Florida Republican Governor Ron DeSantis indicated that his political ambitions are far from over following his historic landslide victory on Tuesday night as he told a massive crowd that he had “only begun to fight.”
The speech comes after DeSantis stunned the nation, winning his re-election campaign by a projected 19.5 points, a margin that even DeSantis’ top allies did not see coming. The governor, who won a tight race in 2018 by approximately 30,000 votes, blew away opponent Charlie Crist by more than 1.5 million votes.
DeSantis’ victory was widely considered to be the top story from this midterm election season as Republicans did not perform nearly as well as they thought they were going to, with several of former President Donald Trump’s endorsed candidates struggling or losing in tight races for key U.S. Senate or gubernatorial seats.
Trump repeatedly attacked the Florida governor in the days leading up to the election and even celebrated when a Republican candidate lost in a key U.S. Senate race that could end up determining which party controls the U.S. Senate.
In his victory speech, DeSantis championed freedom from oppressive leftist politicians as the key to his political success as he declared that he had “rewritten the political landscape.”
“We made promises to the people of Florida and we have delivered on those promises. And so today, after four years, the people have delivered their verdict. Freedom is here to stay,” DeSantis said. “Now, thanks to the overwhelming support of the people of Florida, we not only won election, we have rewritten the political map. Thank you for honoring us with a win for the ages.”
DeSantis then highlighted how large numbers of Americans have been moving to Florida because of how his administration has so aggressively protected freedom, especially throughout the COVID pandemic.
“Now this great exodus of Americans, for those folks, Florida for so many of them, has served as the promised land,” DeSantis said. “We have embraced freedom. We have maintained law and order. We have protected the rights of parents. We have respected our taxpayers and we reject woke ideology. We fight the woke in the legislature, we fight the woke in the schools, we fight the woke in the corporations, we will never ever surrender to the woke mob. Florida is where woke goes to die!”
“People have come here because our policies work,” DeSantis concluded. “Leadership matters. We refuse to use polls and put our finger in the wind. Leaders don’t follow, they lead. We set out a vision. We executed on that vision. And we produced historic results, and the people of this state have responded in record fashion. Now while our country flounders due to failed leadership in Washington, Florida is on the right track. I believe the survival of the American experiment requires a revival of true American principles. Florida has proved that it can be done. We offer a ray of hope that better days still lie ahead. I am proud of our achievements in this state. I am honored by your support, and I look forward to the road ahead. I have fought the good fight. I have finished the race in this first term. And I have kept the faith. We’ve accomplished more than anybody thought possible four years ago, but we’ve got so much more to do and I have only begun to fight.”
WATCH:
TRANSCRIPT:
RON DESANTIS, GOVERNOR OF FLORIDA (R): Thank you, very much. Well, thank you so much. You know, over these past four years, we’ve seen major challenges for the people of our state, for the citizens of the United States, and above all, for the cause of freedom. We saw freedom and our very way of life in so many other jurisdictions in this country wither on the vine, Florida held the line.
We chose facts over fear. We chose education over indoctrination. We chose law and order over rioting and disorder. Florida was a refuge of sanity when the world went mad. We stood as the citadel of freedom for people across this country and indeed, across the world. We faced attacks, we took the hits, we weathered the storms, but we stood our ground, we did not back down, we had the conviction to guide us. And we had the courage to lead, we made promises.
We made promises to the people of Florida and we have delivered on those promises. And so today, after four years, the people have delivered their verdict. Freedom is here to stay.
[Chants of “Two More Years!” and “USA!” breakout]
Thank you very much. Now, thanks to the overwhelming support of the people of Florida, we not only won election, we have rewritten the political map. Thank you for honoring us with a win for the ages.
I want to thank all of our campaign staff … this was the best run campaign in the history of Florida politics. I want to thank all of our wonderful volunteers who worked so hard to get out the vote. Your support means the world to Casey and I. God bless you and thank you.
Now, it’s a lot easier to run a good campaign when you got a great record to run on. And I would not have been able to see the level of accomplishments that we saw unless I had outstanding personnel working in the Executive Office of the Governor as well as heading state agencies. These folks worked hard to implement our agenda, they believed in our agenda. And the results have been historic. Thank you for your support, and work.
Thank you to Miami Dade County. Thank you to Palm Beach County. Now that we’re still tallying the votes, but it’s clearly apparent that this election, we will have garnered a significant number of votes from people who may not have voted for me four years ago and I just want to let you know, I am honored to have earned your trust and your support over these four years.
And most important of all, thank you to the greatest first lady in all 50 states for being a great wife, giving unwavering support, being a tremendous mother to our three young children, and serving as an example for women throughout this state, especially going through the battle of cancer, she is remarkable.
Now today is the combination of the 2022 fall elections, but in reality, Americans have been voting for many years now, they’ve been voting with their feet. And the results of that behavior has been just as stark as our landslide victory today. States and cities governed by leftist politicians have seen crime skyrocket. They’ve seen their taxpayers abused. They’ve seen medical authoritarianism imposed, and they’ve seen American principles discarded.
The woke agenda has caused millions of Americans to leave these jurisdictions for greener pastures. Now this great exodus of Americans, for those folks, Florida for so many of them, has served as the promised land. We have embraced freedom. We have maintained law in order. We have protected the rights of parents. We have respected our taxpayers and we reject woke ideology. We fight the woke in the legislature, we fight the woke in the schools, we fight the woke in the corporations, we will never ever surrender to the woke mob. Florida is where woke goes to die!
People have come here because our policies work. Leadership matters. We refuse to use polls and put our finger in the wind, leaders don’t follow, they lead. We set out a vision. We executed on that vision. And we produced historic results and the people of this state have responded in record fashion. Now while our country flounders due to failed leadership in Washington, Florida is on the right track. I believe the survival of the American experiment requires a revival of true American principles. Florida has proved that it can be done. We offer a ray of hope that better days still lie ahead. I am proud of our achievements in this state. I am honored by your support, and I look forward to the road ahead. I have fought the good fight. I have finished the race in this first term. And I have kept the faith. We’ve accomplished more than anybody thought possible four years ago, but we’ve got so much more to do and I have only begun to fight. God bless you all. Thank you very much. Thank you for a historic landslide victory!
Related: Trump Celebrates Republicans LOSING Key U.S. Senate Race
