Florida Republican Governor Ron DeSantis, a contender in the 2024 Republican presidential race, indicated on Tuesday that he would “pause” his presidential campaign to address the consequences of Hurricane Idalia in the state.

Speaking to reporters, DeSantis mentioned his prior experience dealing with Hurricane Ian while running for the governorship of Florida in September. He stressed that in such situations, you do what is necessary, without specifying the exact duration of his campaign pause.

During a press conference in Tallahassee, a reporter inquired about DeSantis’ plans regarding his presence in Florida and the campaign trail before the anticipated landfall of Hurricane Idalia on Wednesday.

DeSantis responded, recalling Hurricane Ian: “Well, this is no different. You remember Ian, we were in the midst of a governor campaign.”

“I had all kinds of stuff scheduled, not just in Florida, around the country. You know, we were doing different things and, you know, you do what you need to do. I mean, and so that’s what we’re doing,” he continued. “It’s going to be no different than what we did during Hurricane Ian.”

“I’m hoping this storm is not as catastrophic as Hurricane Ian was, but we’re going to do what we need to do because it’s just something that’s important. But it’s no different than what we’ve done in past iterations of all this stuff,” he added.

DeSantis’ statements suggest that his presidential campaign is temporarily halted as he addresses the impending hurricane. The storm could begin impacting Florida with strong winds as early as late Tuesday and reach the Gulf Coast by Wednesday. This is the first storm to make landfall in Florida during this hurricane season, posing a significant threat to the state, which is still recovering from the aftermath of Hurricane Ian.

Florida has declared a state of emergency in 46 out of its 67 counties.

Earlier this week, DeSantis emphasized the seriousness of the storm’s potential impact and its “life-threatening” nature, setting aside the “political season” for the welfare of the citizens. He underlined the importance of unity in safeguarding lives and livelihoods during such critical moments.

DeSantis’ support for his presidential campaign has notably diminished in recent weeks amid campaign restructuring and challenges.

A newly released Yahoo News/YouGov poll, conducted right before the first GOP presidential debate, revealed that support for DeSantis’ campaign had dropped from 23 percent in July to 12 percent. This marks the first time in the poll’s monitoring of the 2024 GOP race that more Republicans and Republican-leaning voters expressed uncertainty (14 percent) about their candidate preference than expressed support for DeSantis.

While Vivek Ramaswamy saw an increase from 3 percent to 8 percent, trailing DeSantis by 4 points in the poll, former South Carolina GOP Senator Tim Scott garnered 4 percent, followed by former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley with 3 percent.

Former President Trump maintained a commanding lead with 52 percent. His lead over DeSantis, his main competitor, grew from 25 points in July to 40 points. This comes as DeSantis has attempted to restructure his campaign in recent weeks due to difficulties in gaining momentum and mounting expenses.

DeSantis’ campaign downsized its staff by a third last month and changed its campaign manager earlier this month. In GOP primary polls, DeSantis has consistently secured second place but has struggled to narrow the gap with Trump, who maintains a double-digit lead, often exceeding 20 or 30 points in many surveys.

In a head-to-head comparison between DeSantis and Trump in a February Yahoo News/YouGov poll, DeSantis had previously prevailed by a 45 percent to 41 percent margin. However, in the current comparison, Trump leads 60 percent to 23 percent.


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