‘We Beat Disney, Fauci, Soros’: Ron DeSantis unleashes ‘Florida

There’s a line in the reporting on Ron DeSantis’s rally that stuck with us: “We beat Disney, Fauci, Soros.” That isn’t a campaign slogan pulled from a focus group; it’s a battle report. It’s a reminder that in the Republican primary for Florida’s 9th district, the fight isn’t just about who sits in a congressional chair. It’s about whether the GOP nominates someone willing to take a blowtorch to the administrative state, or someone content to just hold the seat while the district burns down demographically.

DeSantis showed up for Navy veteran Dan Green because the governor understands the stakes in a district that leans blue on paper. But paper doesn’t vote. People do. And after watching the governor stare down the CDC, the White House, and a theme park with its own government, the voters in that district are seeing that fighting for normalcy is a winning message. They aren’t looking for a moderate who will negotiate with the Swamp; they are looking for a brawler who has walked through the fire and came out with legislative scalps. Green, a political newcomer, is effectively running as the heir to that ethos.

The establishment will tell you this is just a safe seat for Darren Soto, a Democrat who votes with the leadership. But they said the same thing about the Sunshine State in 2022, and DeSantis turned a bellwether into a blowout. We see this race as a real-time test: if a decorated veteran can close the gap against a rubber-stamp incumbent with the help of the state’s most recognizable conservative, the old playbook is crumbling. The suburbs in the 9th district aren't full of radicals; they are full of parents who are tired of the school boards and the beach closures. They want a representative who will treat Washington with the same contempt the Governor treated the CDC.

This is how the blue wall in Florida gets chipped away. It happens one district at a time, one veteran at a time, one angry parent at a time. The message writes itself—national security starts at the border, and parental authority starts at the ballot box. The left keeps telling Floridians they are wrong. The Governor’s rally tells them they are right. We suspect the voters in the 9th will decide that the Navy veteran is a lot closer to their values than the career politician.