Ron DeSantis reminds Iowans that Adam Putnam backers regretted their votes

Ron DeSantis is in the stretch run of the 2024 Iowa campaign, and he’s continuing to tell that state’s voters that people who voted against him in previous nominating contests regretted it.

“When I ran for Governor in 2018, I had a Republican Primary, a competitive Primary, you know, and I won and then became Governor. And I would always have people come up to me after I was Governor for a year or two. And they would say, ‘You know, I didn’t vote for you in the Primary and that was the worst vote I ever cast.'”

DeSantis made the comments in Waukee, at an event hosted by the Never Back Down super PAC.

The 2024 presidential candidate also claimed previously those who backed Adam Putnam against him in 2018 are saying it’s the “worst vote” they ever cast.

“I can tell you in Florida, I’ll have people come up to me and I have two different things. One will say ‘Yes, you know, I voted for you in 2018. I had no idea you were going to do this good. That’s the best vote I’ve ever cast.’ And then I have some other people who said, ‘You know, I didn’t vote for you in the Primary in 2018. That’s the worst vote I ever took. I should (have), I wish I would have voted for you in there,’ and that’s what it will be,” DeSantis said in Marion, Iowa.

DeSantis, who was in his third term as a Congressman from Northeast Florida, launched his campaign roughly six years ago after having brokered an endorsement from President Donald Trump. At that time, Agriculture Commissioner Putnam was nearing the end of his second term, and was seen as the front-runner before Trump’s endorsement gave DeSantis momentum.

The Primary campaign was unsurprisingly bitter between Putnam and DeSantis. But the Governor’s comments suggest that even years later, he’s still keeping score when it comes to who backed him and who did not.