Florida Democrats Launch ‘Ron Be Gone’ to Oust Governor DeSantis

(Bloomberg) -- Florida Democrats have launched a fundraising vehicle that will fight to keep Republican Governor Ron DeSantis from winning re-election, partly to block the Trump ally from using his state perch to run for president in 2024.

Ron Be Gone, which was organized in a way that lets it raise unlimited money, was set up Monday by several Florida Democrats including former Representative Debbie Mucarsel-Powell, Coral Springs Vice Mayor Josh Simmons and former state Representative Cindy Polo. The group plans to support whomever is the Democratic gubernatorial nominee, but won’t support anyone in the primary.

“Ron DeSantis’s failure to protect Floridians during this pandemic will go down as one of the greatest catastrophes in Florida history,” Mucarsel-Powell said in a statement. “I’m glad to be a part of this effort, because the stakes couldn’t be higher for Floridians. While DeSantis is ignoring scientists, he’s focused on helping his wealthy donors skip the line for Covid vaccines in exchange for campaign contributions.”

DeSantis has been a longtime backer of former President Donald Trump. He has faced criticism for his handling of the coronavirus pandemic. Florida has experienced the fourth-highest death toll in the U.S. and has had the third-highest number of confirmed cases.

Trump made Florida his official home while president, and he has lived at his Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach since leaving office in January. Trump won Florida by a margin of 3.3 percentage points in November, up from the 1.2 percentage-point lead he had in 2016.

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