Ron DeSantis qualifies for Maine ballot

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Florida’s Governor is officially on the ballot in the Pine Tree State.

On Tuesday, Gov. Ron DeSantis officially qualified for the ballot in the Maine Republican Presidential Primary, one of 14 primaries on March 5, as the Bangor Daily News reports.

In Maine, 20 delegates are at stake, and the winner will take most of them. That could be bad news for the Florida Governor, according to one of the rare polls of the New England state.

June polling from Digital Research Inc. showed the Governor 32 points behind Donald Trump.

The former President commanded 59% support, well ahead of DeSantis’ 27%. Former U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming was good for third place with 10%. Former candidate Mike Pence (5%) and former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley (3%) rounded out the top five, with 17% of the 448 Republicans and independent voters polled who plan to vote in the open GOP Primary undecided.

Unhappily for DeSantis, ranked-choice voting will not be in play, per the Maine Republican Party.

“Ranked-choice voting is widely opposed by voters in Maine, especially Republicans,” said Maine GOP Chairman Joel Stetkis earlier this month. “Our party rules are clear, and we will only recognize the first round of Primary election results under our delegate allocation rules.”

DeSantis has made some efforts in the state, including selecting a Maine Leadership Team earlier this year. He has also made some Maine-relevant comments this cycle, including weighing in on the mass murder in the city of Lewiston in a way that may or may not appeal to the state’s voters.

During an October interview on CNN, the Florida Governor argued for “involuntary commitment” and not “red flag” laws as the mechanism that would have stopped Robert Card, the U.S. Army Reservist who authorities say shot up a bowling alley before heading to a nearby bar to shoot at more people.

“I mean, I think he obviously was a well-trained individual. There were these flags when he was training; he did go to the hospital. I think the question is, why wasn’t he committed? Beyond that, we’ll probably figure out going forward. But clearly, this is a guy (who’s) very dangerous because he’s got the training, and then he seems to have had a breakdown,” DeSantis told Kaitlan Collins.

He also spent time in the interview making his case for the “involuntary commitment” of potential murderers.

“The pendulum swung a lot (in) the other direction. I’m not saying it needs to go all the way back where it was. But I do think that we need to recognize that there are some people whose behavior is a danger to the community and society that right now are getting put back on the street, and I’d want there to be a mechanism to do that. I think realistically, you know, you have to have the resources in place and the facilities in place to do that,” DeSantis said.