Q&A of the Day – The Impact of Florida’s Resign to Run Law for Ron DeSantis
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Today’s Entry: I heard the reason why DeSantis does not announce – state law insists that he must vacate his current office to run? He is trying to change the law before he gambles on a presidential run? True?
Bottom Line: As Governor DeSantis’ book has hit the shelves as an instant #1 bestseller, naturally the conversation about his potential presidential bid has reached a fever pitch in political circles. And this has brought back to the forefront today’s question which is something I addressed a few months ago but which is instructive to dive into once again because a) More people are paying attention to DeSantis’ potential next steps and b) Florida’s legislative session, which may address this issue as mentioned in the note, kicks off next week and will likely be addressing this issue. Does Governor DeSantis have to resign as governor to run for president? Is this the reason he hasn’t already announced a bid? Here’s the lowdown...
Late last year, after November’s elections, there had been a somewhat poorly kept secret that the legislature was considering tweaking state law to pave the path for a presidential run by DeSantis during the advanced planning for this year’s state legislative session. As a result, incoming Florida House Speaker Paul Renner, came public. In an interview Renner said it was a “great idea” to review and revise the law. And with that, along with a Republican super majority in the state legislature, it became evident there would be legislation advanced which would clean up Florida’s law allowing Governor DeSantis to make a presidential run without first having to resign as governor. When Renner came public with his comments it made the news worldwide and critics came out of the woodwork for obvious reasons. But the news has died down over the past few months but not likely for much longer. So, what is Florida’s current law? What’s the proposed change being considered?
Florida has tweaked the state’s “Resign-to-Run" law twice over the previous 15 years. In fact, should the legislature make changes again this year it won’t even be the first time the legislature has paid deference to a governor’s potential future political ambitions. In 2007, when then Governor Charlie Crist, was known to have been a potential running mate for 2008 Republican Presidential Candidate John McCain, the state tweaked the law to allow for Crist to accept that invitation (which never came) without resigning. Then in 2018, Crist’s successor, Rick Scott, signed into law the current incarnation of the state’s law which states, state office holders must provide resignations to their current offices to run for federal office at least ten days before qualifying to run and that the resignations would be effective on the date that the federal office holder for that post would assume office. This is where there’s often a lot of confusion about the timing of when DeSantis would be out as governor if he were to run for president under Florida’s existing law.
Without changes in Florida law, win or lose, Governor DeSantis would have to submit his resignation ten days before filing federal paperwork and would no longer be Florida’s governor as of January 20th, 2025 – nearly two full years prior to his 2nd term would come to a close. That obviously raises the stakes for both Floridians and America’s Governor and would perhaps be enough of a disincentive for DeSantis not to run for president even if he were desirous of doing so.... especially given the unknowns of a potential primary fight with Trump, let alone a general election campaign. Just imagine the incredible fall from grace if DeSantis were to go from winning a record election in Florida to losing a presidential primary for followed by a resignation as governor. The logic to change the law is there for sure. So, about those potential changes. What are they likely to be?
To date (as of this entry) there have been a total of 1,312 bills filed in the state legislature. I’ve yet to see one filed pertaining to this issue in either chamber. In fact, House Speaker Paul Renner hasn’t personally filed any bills as of yet and he’s the one who took the public lead on the issue. Maybe the wait is strategic, after all if it's filed before the session there’s extra time, attention and scrutiny which can be devoted to this issue in particular. Maybe it’s because there’s still internal debate about what the proposed changes should be. Maybe it’s because it isn’t going to be proposed after all, though I doubt it. Right along I’ve said DeSantis wouldn’t announce until after the session ends May 5th, if he chooses to do so. Today’s note also raises a good point about there essentially being no chance he’d consider an announcement prior to having signed a change to Florida’s Resign to Run Law. Doing so would require his resignation which would take effect January 20th of 2025 first.