Q&A of the Day – Could Ron DeSantis Become Donald Trump’s Running Mate?
Each day I feature a listener question sent by one of these methods.
Email: brianmudd@iheartmedia.com
Social: @brianmuddradio
iHeartRadio: Use the Talkback feature – the microphone button on our station’s page in the iHeart app.
Today’s Entry: Submitted via Talkback asking about a potential Trump and DeSantis ticket.
Bottom Line: While Floridians, and many Americans for that matter, wait and watch for what’s been a long anticipated presidential bid by Governor DeSantis, the prospect of a potential Trump-DeSantis ticket continues to be a regular topic of conversation. And that’s for two rather obvious reasons. The first, is that in literally every Republican Primary poll, Trump is the clear leader and DeSantis is clearly the closest challenger. Independent of other factors that would lead to this type of chatter. I’ve professionally covered every presidential election starting with the 2000 cycle, and without fail the top challenger to a party’s nominee is most commonly discussed as being the running mate. It’s logical that a party’s voters would want their top two preferred candidates to run together. That said, it hasn’t happened in either party since Ronald Reagan picked George H.W. Bush as his running mate in 1980 (and even that one almost didn’t happen – historical accounts show Reagan’s top choice was former President Gerald Ford, however as a former president Ford wanted more influence in decision making than Reagan was comfortable with). So, at the onset, with history as a guide, it’s unlikely we will eventually see a Trump – DeSantis ticket. And that’s before addressing something which was referenced in today’s question that’s worth addressing as well... Whether that ticket could happen with both being Floridians.
This listener noted that Trump would need to relocate back to New York in order to have DeSantis on his ticket. I’d like to clear up the confusion over this dynamic as it’s been regularly confused and even misreported by those discussing the prospect of both the Presidential candidate and Vice-Presidential candidate being from the same state. The fact of the matter is that there is nothing in the United States Constitution preventing the Presidential and Vice-Presidential candidate running from the state. What there is, is an Electoral College provision which raises a few potential questions and outcomes based on those questions.
Article II to the Constitution reads like this specific to the provision in question:
Without context, many have interpreted that to mean something it doesn’t. So, let’s start with context. That Amendment to Article II was adopted in 1804. There’s one especially important change to Presidential elections since that era. From the onset of our country’s history through that era, you didn’t have presidential tickets. You simply had candidates who ran for president. While a state’s voters voted their intent for a president, they didn’t vote on a vice-president. A state’s electors were the ones who exclusively voted for a vice-president. The popularization of “tickets” and “running-mates”, didn’t fully take shape until much later in the 19th century with the formation of party primaries as we understand them today (1890 was the first election conducted as we conduct them today). The reason that context matters, is that in the event there were to be a legal challenge to an election on these grounds, the intent of the constitutional law would be examined. With the law having been established at a time in which voters weren’t expressing their intent, only the electors voting on their behalf, it’s possible – even likely – that any legal challenges on these grounds would be rejected. In fact, in modern political history, it essentially already has been challenged and it just so happened to involve an election which focused for weeks on Florida.
While everyone who voted in 2000 will forever remember the Florida 2000 legal challenges, there was another legal challenge preceding the legal wrangling over the pregnant, hanging and dimpled chads we had right here in Palm Beach County. The Texas challenge. Once it was determined that any one state would determine the outcome of the 2000 presidential election, Democrats employed this legal strategy. Dick Cheney lived in the same state as George W. Bush – Texas. Out of consideration for this issue he re-registered to vote in Wyoming – where he had a vacation home. Democrats argued Texas’ 32 electoral college delegates couldn’t legally vote for the Bush-Cheney ticket because Cheney hadn’t established a full-time residence in Wyoming. The federal court system refused to even hear the case and the suit was thrown out without a hearing. That speaks volumes about the effort to even attempt to invalidate the votes and the intent of Americans. With that fairly recent legal precedent, it’s almost a given that any related effort in a close presidential win by a Trump-DeSantis ticket would result in a similar outcome. But let’s say, just for drill, the courts were to rule the other way. What would happen then?
- They win by a margin larger than Florida’s Electoral College votes and it’s a moot point
- The electors vote for president but not vice-president. Recall that the constitutional provision in question states that the electors may not vote for two candidates from the same state. In this scenario, in a close election, if a presidential candidate had the necessary vote to become president but the vice-president didn’t the senate would select the VP.
- Governor DeSantis calls a special session to allow electors from outside of Florida into the state to cast the votes on Florida’s behalf. There’s nothing in the US Constitution which stipulates that the electors a state chooses must come from within their state
So, the fact of the matter is that Trump and DeSantis could be running mates and could be elected together from Florida. That said, you can rest assured of something. There is zero chance of Donald Trump making New York his primary residence once again. We’ve all seen what they’re doing to him in the legal system up there. Aside from the considerable tax considerations in play for remaining a full-time Florida resident, there are the legal considerations as well. I understand why many want this to happen. I also recently reported that some in Trump’s camp are trying to convince him to make this happen, though I personally have doubts about whether DeSantis would be willing to be the #2 even if Trump were onboard but we shall see...and sooner rather than later as to if DeSantis will make an official presidential bid.