WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — There are more hints that Gov. Ron DeSantis will be announcing his candidacy for president in the next couple of weeks.
The big announcement is now expected to take place by mid-May, according to a new NBC News report, which quoted GOP insiders, who basically said it's time to get into the race against Donald Trump.
"He knows the numbers don't get longer," Republican strategist Larry Casey of Palm Beach Gardens said. "They get shorter in terms of getting things done. We're not that far away from the first debate in August."
Casey said part of it has to do with some polls, which now show Trump leading the GOP field with the calendar counting down.
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"I think DeSantis has moved up his timing to May from later on," Casey said. "He wants to show accomplishments in the Legislature, that he's done things [and] point to them."
Meanwhile, some call those accomplishments "DeSantis' Culture War," which contain new laws impacting the LGBTQ+ community and his ongoing battle with Disney.
Democrats predict they will see even less of the governor once he makes his presidential announcement.
"The governor isn't around. He's not addressing the issues that are important to Floridians," state Sen. Lori Berman, D-Boynton Beach, said. "We have a property insurance crisis. We had flooding in Fort Lauderdale. We have an affordable housing crisis."
DeSantis recently has been abroad, including trips to Japan, South Korea, Israel and the United Kingdom.
During a meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in Tokyo on Monday, DeSantis was asked about polls that show him trailing Trump, who announced his candidacy in November.
"I'm not a candidate, so we'll see if and when that changes," DeSantis said.
However, that seems likely to change next month.
"You don't want to run against Trump, but the one person who can take the beating is DeSantis," Casey said.