Ron DeSantis starts fundraising off ‘Stop W.O.K.E Act’

DeSantis
"If they’re successful, it will rot our nation to the core," DeSantis warned.

Don’t like critical race theory? Gov. Ron DeSantis wants your money. For re-election that is.

DeSantis sent an afternoon e-mail blast from his campaign trumpeting his “Stop W.O.K.E. Act.”

That phrase stands for the “Stop Wrongs Against Our Kids and Employees Act.” The bill would allow people to bring causes of action against schools and corporations for teaching so-called critical race theory.

DeSantis unveiled the bill’s major points at a press conference Wednesday morning in Wildwood, and the afternoon saw a distillation of points for the donor set.

“The adoption of woke ideologies like Critical Race Theory is the left’s latest method to delegitimize America’s institutions and our founding principles,” DeSantis said, using rhetoric similar to that used earlier in the day.

“From schools to corporations, Democrats are working to indoctrinate our nation’s youth with hatred — hatred towards one another and towards America. If they’re successful, it will rot our nation to the core,” DeSantis warned.

The Governor billed the proposal as a move to “outlaw Critical Race Theory and other racist indoctrination tactics in businesses and schools, AND to give individuals tools to fight back when these laws are broken.”

“I still believe we live in a nation that has values we can be proud of, and I refuse to allow Democrats to poison our society into hating one another based on race using their radical woke teachings. But the fight is just getting started –– and we need your help to win,” DeSantis urged.

DeSantis has invested a lot of political capital in critical race theory in recent months. The Governor’s Board of Education banned it in classroom instruction this summer, and DeSantis has vowed to get involved in school board races next year.

Even though it’s banned in Florida schools, it is clear DeSantis sees that as just the beginning of the push against what he calls “woke ideologies” and “cultural Marxism.”

Meanwhile, his campaign is using arguments like this to pad a formidable fundraising advantage. He reported raising about $6 million in November between his political committee, Friends of Ron DeSantis, and his re-election campaign.

Democrats can’t keep up. U.S. Rep. Charlie Crist raised $805,171 in November between his campaign account and his political committee. Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried only managed to raise $106,086 for her official campaign and $110,223 for her Florida Consumers First political committee in November.

A.G. Gancarski

A.G. Gancarski has written for FloridaPolitics.com since 2014. He is based in Northeast Florida. He can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter: @AGGancarski


3 comments

  • Concern Citizen

    December 15, 2021 at 5:59 pm

    CRT is only a red herring to distract from his poor leadership and to arouse his base for support and votes.
    Please tell me what schools are teaching CRT in Florida in our k to 12 system. Next are you going to rewrite history and state that the Jan 6 assault was done by socialist and Antifa. Let have bills that will truly help Floridians and not cause division

  • zhombre

    December 15, 2021 at 6:08 pm

    Good. I hope he hauls in a bundle and then quashes whoever is the Dem candidate next election.

  • Jerry Spags

    December 20, 2021 at 5:28 pm

    DeSantis, unlike Trump, is well grounded in principle and education. Most elections come down to two choices: Bad, or Worse, which is why I’d vote for Trump against Biden any day. Trump needs to step back. Yes, the Donald ignited a fury but he couldn’t tame it or himself for that matter and any sense of direction in his policies became confusing at best and outright chaos as January 6th proved.

Comments are closed.


#FlaPol

Florida Politics is a statewide, new media platform covering campaigns, elections, government, policy, and lobbying in Florida. This platform and all of its content are owned by Extensive Enterprises Media.

Publisher: Peter Schorsch @PeterSchorschFL

Contributors & reporters: Phil Ammann, Drew Dixon, Roseanne Dunkelberger, A.G. Gancarski, Anne Geggis, Ryan Nicol, Jacob Ogles, Cole Pepper, Gray Rohrer, Jesse Scheckner, Christine Sexton, Drew Wilson, and Mike Wright.

Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @PeterSchorschFL
Phone: (727) 642-3162
Address: 204 37th Avenue North #182
St. Petersburg, Florida 33704




Sign up for Sunburn


Categories