A.G. Gancarski
Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis‘ financial disclosure, released Monday, reveals the Ponte Vedra Republican was far from rich when he was inaugurated.
The 2018 Form 6 reveals a net worth of just $283,704, a sum that puts him below many members of the House, Senate, and Cabinet.
DeSantis, who wrapped up last year his third and presumably final term in the United States Congress, reported $116,000 in income from that role.
He resigned in September after speculation he couldn’t run for Governor and serve in Congress at the same time.
Unlike in the cases of politicians who are more independently wealthy, that decision was a risky one, especially given that he has two small children, and his wife left her own television news career around the time DeSantis launched his primary campaign last year.
DeSantis’ only other reported income from 2018: $5,500 from a rental property in Ponte Vedra, a house valued at $450,000.
That home value represents the vast majority of the family’s assets, which also included at the time of filing $85,000 in a thrift savings plan and $41,532 in a savings account.
Liabilities include $263,000 to JT Wentworth and over $33,000 to student loan provider Sallie Mae.
The addendum included $3,500 in stock holdings (U.S. Steel and Sirius XM), as well as $15,297 in income from the state of Florida.
DeSantis’ financial holdings represent a stark contrast to former governor and now U.S. Sen. Rick Scott, a fellow Republican whose “blind trust” revealed at least $250 million (and possibly much more) in a web of holdings that took reporters days, even weeks, to somewhat untangle.
“The use of a blind trust avoids even the appearance of a conflict of interest for an elected official,” the Scott campaign said.
Blind trusts have since been repealed, but only after Scott’s departure.
On the campaign trail, DeSantis spotlighted differences between himself and Scott.
“I basically made decisions to serve in uniform, as a prosecutor, and in Congress to my financial detriment,” DeSantis said in October. “I’m not complaining about that, but I’m not entering (office) with a big trust fund or anything like that, so I’m not going to be entering office with those issues.”
2 comments
John Andrew Kociuba
July 2, 2019 at 5:26 pm
God Bless Hon. Ron Desantis and his family! 🇺🇸
Denise White
July 2, 2019 at 8:09 pm
I can tell you this he doesn’t have a mind of his own because each time I wrote him over concerns for the people of Florida That are using Grant money to improve their home and then loosing it. I am a Realtor and have seen first hand what these contractors are doing by charging 3x what these improvements are costing people we are going to see a lot more foreclosures when they see their payments go up 300-400 a month. Not the first time I reached out with other concerns like Workman’s Comp SCAMS.
Maybe I’ll run for MAYOR. And when he suspended Sheriff Israel big mistake. He can’t be held accountable for the school shootings or the airport he doesn’t have a crystal ball. My heart goes out to all the families but everyone seems to forgot all the good he did for our community. I think if you got rid of all the bad seeds at the Sheriffs office who think they make the rules and intimidate citizens that office would be much better off. I will be discussing that with a few people at the next hearing when Sheriff Israel fights for his job. When the truth comes out their will be a lot of positions open in broward.
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