Never Back Down thinks Ron DeSantis can win delegate ‘fight’
Ken Cuccinelli, Acting Director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, Says the Donald Trump administration is not yet ready to grant TPS to Venezuelans.

cuccinelli
'We're preparing in all the states up through Super Tuesday.'

As things stand in the GOP presidential race, Donald Trump is a strong front-runner, and one rough delegate count reflects that.

Race to the White House posits that Trump is on pace to get 1,801 delegates, with 585 for Ron DeSantis. Yet the founder of the DeSantis-supportive Never Back Down super PAC believes the Florida Governor ultimately will win that battle.

“I led the delegate effort for Ted Cruz in 2016. I know you have to win the most delegates to win,” said Ken Cuccinelli on Fox News.

“And we’re not just preparing in the first four states. We’re preparing in all the states up through Super Tuesday,” he added. “That’s about a third of the United States, including Texas and California, two of the biggest states in the country, and no campaign is doing that other than our super PAC in support of the DeSantis campaign.”

Cuccinelli believes the DeSantis effort will be “better prepared to fight in every single state than any other campaign in history” with the “best leader to carry that fight forward in Gov. DeSantis.”

“We expect to win every state,” Cuccinelli added. “We may have some setbacks here and there, but we will be ready to go the distance.”

Team DeSantis has held that Trump isn’t “good at the delegate fight,” as NBC News reported this month. The clear hope is that the ground game makes up for polling that has been brutal for DeSantis of late.

The FiveThirtyEight average of polls also shows that Trump leads DeSantis 54% to 21% on average, with former Vice President Mike Pence at 6% and former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley at 4%.

The RealClearPolitics (RCP) polling average pegs DeSantis at 19% support in the 2024 Republican Primary field, with Trump nearly tripling the Governor with 56% support.

Cuccinelli contended that the Governor is in a “favorable position,” noting the polls were conducted before he got into the presidential race. He also believes that voters will reward DeSantis for culture war fights Trump hasn’t engaged in.

“DeSantis is the only major candidate in America on either side who has fought these battles on the side of us and our children and hasn’t backed down. President Trump is on the other side. He’s been with Disney, he’s been with Bud Light. Who knows, maybe he’ll be with Target next,” Cuccinelli said, referring to pressures the department store has faced over Pride merchandise.

“Target is afraid because of the sort of response that has been spearheaded in government by Gov. DeSantis,” Cuccinelli added.

A.G. Gancarski

A.G. Gancarski has been the Northeast Florida correspondent for Florida Politics since 2014. He writes for the New York Post and National Review also, with previous work in the American Conservative and Washington Times and a 15+ year run as a columnist in Folio Weekly. He can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter: @AGGancarski


5 comments

  • PeterH

    May 24, 2023 at 11:03 am

    Dear Ken Cuccinelli,

    To believe that every Republican state want the “DeSantis Blueprint” for America is magical thinking.

  • Dont Say FLA

    May 24, 2023 at 11:04 am

    With his campaign motto “Stand Your Ground Unless It’s Your Uterus,” DeSantis is on the wrong side of the two issues Americans care about.

  • KC is a genius

    May 24, 2023 at 11:06 am

    “You have to win the most delegates to win.” The DeSantis campaign is very lucky to have a guy as smart as KC on board.

    • MH/Duuuval

      May 24, 2023 at 1:29 pm

      He da Florida Man’s flack.

  • Never Back Down

    May 24, 2023 at 11:11 am

    Never Back Down, except from talking about the 6 week abortion ban you signed just before midnight on Friday night, hoping for a mass shooting over the weekend to displace you from the news before Monday.

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, William March, Ryan Nicol, Jacob Ogles, Cole Pepper, Jesse Scheckner, Drew Wilson, and Mike Wright.

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