GOP Lawmakers in Florida Looking to Clear the Way for DeSantis to Run for President without Resigning

(TotalConservative.com) – Lawmakers in Florida are working to clear the way for Gov. Ron DeSantis to legally run for president without having to resign from his position as governor.

Perhaps the main reason DeSantis hasn’t yet announced an official campaign for the 2024 presidential election is that it may require him to step down from office in order to do so. Republican lawmakers in the Florida Senate are now stepping up to do something about that.

There are differing opinions about whether or not Florida law actually requires a governor to step down in order to run for the White House, the GOP Senate members are looking to eliminate any ambiguity by adding a provision to an existing elections bill that will make its way through the chamber before the end of the current session.

“If there is ambiguity, and it’s been something that’s been talked about,” said Republican Sen. Danny Burgess, “then let’s do it, let’s clarify it.”

It’s widely expected that DeSantis will officially enter the primary in the next few weeks, becoming the biggest challenger to Trump for the GOP nomination.

Last month, a Trump-affiliated super PAC filed an ethics complaint accusing DeSantis of running a “shadow presidential campaign” and neglecting his gubernatorial duties.

Trump himself also accused DeSantis of already campaigning before announcing it officially, releasing a statement on his website and in an email to supporters saying that the Florida governor “is currently on a month-long, taxpayer-funded presidential campaign schedule paid for by Florida taxpayers, and new questions are emerging as to whether this will force DeSantis to resign from office.

Democrats in Florida are also criticizing DeSantis, arguing that his recent Japan trip and other travel stops across the country demonstrate that he’s abandoned Floridians and is already on the campaign trail.

Florida Democratic Party Chairwoman Nikki Fried said that the Republican effort to change the law to allow DeSantis to run without stepping down “is just the latest example of Florida Republicans enabling DeSantis’ pursuit of his national ambitions as he fails Floridians on the issues that affect them most.”

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