Today, in response to Congressman Ron DeSantis’ announcement that he will run for United States Senate, Florida Democratic Party Chair Allison Tant released the following statement: 

“Congressman Ron DeSantis, the poster-boy for Washington’s partisan extremism and dysfunction, is in for a rude awakening when he takes his Tea Party record on the road in Florida. Congressman DeSantis is a strong and vocal opponent of a woman’s right to choose, opposes equal pay for women, and even voted against reauthorizing the Violence Against Women Act. He disagrees with the majority of Floridians with his staunch opposition to marriage quality, and even denies the existence of climate change — in the state that is ground zero for its impacts.

“Congressman DeSantis could not be more out of touch with mainstream Florida values. Congressman DeSantis voted to end Medicaid as we know it, and his mile-long record against the Hispanic and immigrant communities speaks for itself. He even supported shutting down the government in 2013, costing taxpayers billions.

 ”Despite all of this, he’s still the first Florida Republican who wants to run statewide in this presidential election cycle. That’s no surprise. After all, Floridians resoundingly rejected the last Tea Party Congressman who made a bid at the U.S. Senate, and if this is the best Florida Republicans can do, it will be déjà vu for them in 2016.”