Ron DeSantis works ‘Red Sox Nation’ enthusiasm into New Hampshire speech

FILE - Republican presidential candidate Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis waves at the Republican Party of Iowa's 2023 Lincoln Dinner in Des Moines, Iowa, July 28, 2023. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall, File)

Florida’s a long way from New Hampshire, but that doesn’t stop Ron DeSantis from finding common ground with the Granite State.

During a stop in Nashua, the Florida Governor waxed enthusiastic about the Boston Red Sox, a team he cheered for while at Harvard Law School, and their winning the 2004 World Series.

“It was such an exciting time. The only disappointment was when they swept St. Louis, so they didn’t win the World Series back in Boston,” DeSantis said, as reported by the New Hampshire Journal.

The Governor grew up a Braves fan and lived in Tampa as a youth, but of late has talked up his affinity for the Rays’ AL East rival.

During a Tuesday interview on Boston’s WBZ, the Florida Governor described a devotion to the team unlike that seen in the Sunshine State.

“I grew up a Braves fan in the Southeast and then when the Rays came, I was in college, so I was kind of getting into them,” DeSantis said. “But by the time I was in law school, like, I was part of Red Sox Nation, I was rooting for them more than, you know, and so when they went down three to nothing in 2004, I was like, man, is this ever going to happen?”

“When they came back to beat the Yankees winning four in a row, I knew the curse was gone. I knew they were going to beat the Cardinals and the feeling in that part of the country, not just in the city of Boston, in Cambridge and other parts of New England, the whole population was so into it,” said DeSantis, who was at Harvard Law School at the time.

That excitement was unlike anything he’d experienced at home, he said.

“And that was unlike anything I’ve seen in Florida because, you know, the Bucs have won a couple of Super Bowls. We’ve had other teams do. Well, we’ve had a lot of great college football and people get excited, don’t get me wrong, but this was just in the bloodstream in New England. And I’ve never seen so many people be so revved up and when they won it, it was like such a big deal.”

The Governor is playing up his local ties as yet another Granite State poll shows him struggling. A fresh survey from the Trafalgar Group shows him 39 points behind President Donald Trump’s 50%. DeSantis’ 11% puts him one point ahead of Vivek Ramaswamy and just two points ahead of Chris Christie.