If former President Donald Trump had not endorsed Ron DeSantis for Governor four years ago, we'd be three-and-a-half years into the Andrew Gillum administration.
There was a time when a Gov. Gillum was seen as likely. Polls in the lead-up to Election Day consistently showed him with the edge over DeSantis.
Some of them made the outcome seem inevitable. Quinnipiac, for those who don't remember, released a poll showing Gillum up by a touchdown the day before the election.
But DeSantis managed the upset — and make no mistake, it was an upset. DeSantis may be a rising star today, but five years ago he was a backbencher Congressman who polled two points behind Carlos Lopez Cantera in the race to succeed U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio.
When he filed for Governor, he was considered little more than a pre-fight warmup for Adam Putnam.
Trump changed that with a tweet.
The DeSantis campaign took that endorsement and drove it until the wheels fell off in the Primary, even producing a TV ad where DeSantis repeats many of Trump's catchphrases to his young children.
Sure, Republican Primaries are not General Elections. But Trump did more than offer an endorsement. He also showed up to campaign for DeSantis in person, headlining campaign rallies for him in the final stretch of the race.
Trump wasn't setting presidential popularity records at the time (or ever) but his consistent, visible and vocal support helped DeSantis' campaign overcome blunders that some thought would kill his campaign. Gillum had blunders, too — the seeds that led to his recent federal indictment had already started sprouting, but they were mostly brushed off.
The end result: DeSantis by about 32,000 votes.
It's impossible to know how many Floridians turned out for DeSantis on Election Day because he was Trump's man, but 32,000 would be a conservative estimate.
So, Donald Trump, thank you for saving Florida. Maybe.
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