A.G. Gancarski
Gov. Ron DeSantis spent part of Tuesday in the Buckeye State, where he looked to get backing for his “passion project” of congressional term limits by showing support for a House joint resolution.
But he stressed that his remarks should in no way be construed as him trying to keep a national profile for a second run for the White House.
“This has nothing to do with running for anything,” DeSantis said in Columbus.
“I’ve been involved in term limits for probably 15 years now. I’ve done this as a Congressman. I was the one that introduced the U.S. term limits resolution to pose limits on members of Congress — didn’t get a whole lot of support in Congress, as you can imagine. And so since I’ve been Governor, any time I’ve had an opportunity to do it, I’ve done it. So I wouldn’t read anything into it.”
It’s unclear how successful DeSantis would be in 2028. Though he said last year that he hasn’t “ruled anything out” and will “see what the future holds,” polling shows him in single digits among Republicans, well behind Ohio’s favorite son, Vice President JD Vance.
Even though the Governor said he’s not looking for a better job, his remarks included some echoes of staples from his last campaign.
DeSantis, who talked about his “Ohio values” as a presidential candidate, talked again about his family roots and those of his wife, Casey DeSantis, before bemoaning Florida’s recent performances in college football.
“Both of her parents are Ohio State Buckeye graduates, and I do extend my congratulations for the national championship victory,” said DeSantis, who himself is termed out next year.
“There was a time when the national championship really went through the state of Florida. It’s been a while since any of our schools have been at that level. We think we may see something out of the Florida Gators this year. We had high hopes for the Seminoles a couple of years ago. So we’ll see what happens.”
After drawing the connection between the two states, DeSantis sold the term limits push as a natural fit.
“This Article 5 convention from the states is something that Florida has certified,” DeSantis said. He noted that 12 states are on board, while 38 must ratify to make it law.
“Ohio is naturally the next state to take this on,” DeSantis said. “I also think just Ohio being an important state politically in the history of our country, but certainly right now in the modern Republican Party, being one of the strongest Republican states now that has a large population, I think symbolically would be really, really important.”
The initiative seeks three terms in the House and two in the Senate as a limit.
DeSantis said Ohio could put “restrictions” on the call to block a “runaway convention” where states targeted the Second Amendment, adding that people who are concerned about that are “saying the Founding Fathers got it wrong.”
