Email insights: Democrats drag Ron DeSantis for endorsing ‘losers’

Ron DeSantis' gas tax cut was configured with a little help from gas station interests.

Gov. Ron DeSantis has argued Florida offers a “blueprint” for the potential future of conservative governance. But Democratic critics are calling attention to some questionable endorsements in the just-wrapped election cycle, including in Tuesday’s Senate race in Georgia.

In an email entitled “YIKES: Ron DeSantis endorsed a bunch of losers,” the Democratic National Committee “War Room” discussed the Governor’s “failed endorsements around the country.”

“After traversing the country to boost his own profile, DeSantis’s endorsees in key battleground states were roundly rejected,” the War Room asserts, calling attention to the Governor’s too-little-and-too-late backing of Republican Herschel Walker “less than 24 hours before Walker’s historic defeat.”

“We can’t let (Joe) Biden Democrats, like Raphael Warnock, hold this U.S. Senate seat,” DeSantis contended. “We need conservative leaders to help restore America.”

The Governor didn’t travel for Walker, despite Georgia bordering the state and the Tallahassee media market being in play. But the DNC notes he did travel for other candidates.

“In the Grand Canyon State, DeSantis threw his weight behind election-denying extremists Kari Lake and Blake Masters, who called for a national abortion ban, before they were rejected by Arizona voters.”

The Masters loss in the Senate race ended up being less controversial than Lake’s defeat in the Governor’s race, as she continues to cast doubts on the election. But her comments when DeSantis was in Arizona this summer were notable nonetheless.

Calling herself the “DeSantis of the West,” Lake offered an unusual endorsement of DeSantis’ “(Donald) Trump strength.”

“He’s got BDE. I call it Big DeSantis Energy. He’s got the same kind of BDE President Trump has,” Lake said.

The Democrats spotlight similarly failed DeSantis endorsements in New Mexico, Pennsylvania, Maine, Nevada and Wisconsin, before closing with a harsh denunciation.

“Despite standing shoulder-to-shoulder with liars, election deniers, abortion extremists, and the most extreme MAGA candidates in the country all year long, DeSantis’s support in the midterm elections fell flat on its face.”

For his part, DeSantis has not offered much public regret of any of his losing endorsements, though he has offered veiled criticisms in recent weeks.

Before the Georgia runoff, the Governor contrasted his state with elsewhere, saying that “around the country Florida was kind of the biggest bright spot.”

“It was not so bright in many other parts of the country. It was a substandard performance given the dynamics that are at play.”