Ron DeSantis will not be president. His decision to withdraw from the race on January 21 is a missed opportunity for America. Yet his service to our country is far from over. He’s no longer running for the White House, but he has two more years to run Florida as Governor. He can continue to show other states—and even the next President—how to get America back on track.
I say that as someone who, since 2021, has split my year between Florida and Illinois, where I lived full-time for 38 years. My wife and I made this decision after watching Gov. DeSantis take a great state and somehow make it even better. We weren’t the only ones who saw Florida as the best state to build a future. The following year, more than 35,000 of our fellow Illinoisans moved to Florida—along with nearly 700,000 residents from other 49 states and D.C.
We knew we made the right call the moment we arrived. Unlike Illinois, which was still largely shut down, Florida was open everywhere—the schools, the stores, the biggest city to the smallest town. It reflected the Governor’s bold decision to ignore the fearmongering and lecturing from Washington, D.C. and the media. It spoke to key principles that Gov. DeSantis prizes but much of America has forgotten, even three years later: Personal freedom, personal responsibility, and really, a belief in everyday people.
Florida has rewarded the Governor’s trust with an economic boom that is the envy of the country. The wonky numbers of economic growth, wage growth, and business creation tell quite a story, but the better story is written on residents’ faces. Every day, in our neighborhood, families beam as they move into homes that cost a fraction compared to other states. And the two-lane road that first took us to our new house is now being extended to six lanes. That’s how many new neighborhoods are springing up, housing families who’ve found better jobs and better schools in the Sunshine State.
Another principle that Gov. DeSantis respects: Entrepreneurship. Florida now has the highest percentage of residents who’ve started businesses. As a long-time entrepreneur myself, I make a habit of talking to small business owners everywhere I go in the state. I’ve lost count of how many have spontaneously told me how easy it is to start and run a business in Florida. The red tape is slim to non-existent, the customer base large and growing larger, and the optimism boundless.
It helps that Gov. DeSantis has championed the principle of low taxes, cutting taxes that were already some of the lowest in the nation. The lack of an income tax is an instant spur to entrepreneurship and the job creation that leads to opportunityand personal growth. As for property taxes, our Florida house costs 63% more than our Illinois home, yet our Illinois taxes are more than 110% higher. That’s money in our pockets—to spend at local businesses.
Yet despite the low taxes, and the resulting low spending, government services are exceptional. That’s true from the little things, like the ease of getting a county parks pass, to the big-ticket items, like infrastructure and disaster response. Florida roads and highways are in far better condition than anything I ever drove on in Illinois, and as Gov. DeSantis likes to say, the state reopened a major bridge just three days after Hurricane Ian washed it out. The original construction estimate was six months, and in Illinois, it may have taken six years. That’s because Florida accepts a principle that so many others reject: Government works for the people, not the other way around.
Could a President Ron DeSantis have brought these principles to bear on America’s problems, the same as he’s done since day one as Florida Governor? We won’t find out, though it was always clear that the job would have been much harder. Regardless, in his two remaining years in office, the Governor will continue to extend Florida’s lead over the rest of the nation.
Most importantly, Florida will be impossible for the next president to ignore, providing the country’s best example of good government grounded in American principles. Ron DeSantis won’t be president, but here’s hoping his continued example shapes the next president.
