Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) made several gambles with bold actions in Florida in the lead-up to his ill-fated presidential campaign.
While the various actions were part of his executive agenda in Florida, several of them had an eye toward the presidential campaign. DeSantis’s 2024 campaign is now over, and several of his gambles have been tested in the courts. Here is how three of them have fared.
Disney battle
DeSantis restructured Disney‘s central Florida district in 2023, adding more state oversight after the company called for repealing the state’s Parental Rights in Education bill. In response to actions by the Florida governor and the state-appointed board of the district, Disney sued the two entities in April 2023, alleging unlawful retaliation against the company.
The lawsuit was thrown out by a federal judge last month, delivering DeSantis a victory against the company.
“In short, Disney lacks standing to sue the Governor or the Secretary, and its claims against the CFTOD Defendants fail on the merits because ‘when a statute is facially constitutional, a plaintiff cannot bring a free-speech challenge by claiming that the lawmakers who passed it acted with a constitutionally impermissible purpose,’” Judge Allen Winsor said in the order granting the motions to dismiss the lawsuit.
Disney said in a statement following the decision that it is “determined to press forward with our case” and that it has “serious implications for the rule of law.” The company issued a notice that it intends to appeal the decision to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit.
Restrictions on Chinese citizens buying land
One of the initiatives championed by DeSantis facing a setback is a law that limits Chinese citizens from purchasing land in the state. The law was signed by DeSantis in May 2023, and allows Chinese citizens with non-tourist visas to buy single parcels of land as long as they are under 2 acres and at least 5 miles away from military sites.
“I’m proud to sign this legislation to stop the purchase of our farmland and land near our military bases and critical infrastructure by Chinese agents, to stop sensitive digital data from being stored in China, and to stop CCP influence in our education system from grade school to grad school. We are following through on our commitment to crack down on Communist China,” DeSantis said last May.
Earlier this month, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit ordered an injunction be given for two of the plaintiffs suing the state over claims the restrictions violate anti-discrimination laws. The injunction was granted due to a “substantial likelihood of success on their claim,” as part of an appeal of the U.S. District Court of the Northern District of Florida’s decision not to grant an injunction of the law in August 2023.
Redistricting
The current congressional map for Florida gives Republicans a 20-8 advantage in the congressional delegation, and was passed after DeSantis pushed legislators to send him a more Republican-favorable proposal than their initial plan. Among the various changes from the previous map used based on the 2010 census data, it does not include the previous black-majority district that stretched for much of the length of the northern part of the state.
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DeSantis argued the previous black-majority district was a racial gerrymander, saying that the new map did not need to include it. The lack of the carved-out black-majority district has prompted various legal challenges under federal and state provisions.
Legal challenges to the map have been unsuccessful, with the State Supreme Court set to consider whether it will hear a challenge to the map alleging it violates the Fair Districts Amendment. The most recent ruling, from a state appeals court, reversed a lower court’s ruling and upheld the congressional map as lawfully drawn.