Every voter NR spoke to in the traditionally libertarian-leaning state rejected the claim that DeSantis is overreaching.
Salem, N.H. — Voters who turned out to Ron DeSantis’s early campaign events in the traditionally libertarian leaning state of New Hampshire were unanimously supportive of his ongoing feud with Disney, dismissing arguments made by much of the rest of the 2024 GOP field that the governor’s targeting of Disney’s legal protections represents government overreach.
After kicking off his campaign with a swing through Iowa earlier in the week, DeSantis made stops in Laconia, Rochester and Salem on Thursday for three intimate events with voters at a Veterans of Foreign War outpost, an American Legion, and an Elks Lodge. He touted his achievements as Florida’s governor and joked that he had brought Florida’s sunshine with him on the scorching hot day.
He also doubled down on his feud with Disney.
“I’m not backing down one inch,” DeSantis said Thursday.
“We stand for the protection of our children. We will fight those who seek to rob them of their innocence and on that there will be no compromise,” he added.
The fight began when Disney advocated against the Florida Parental Rights in Education law. DeSantis signed a bill stripping the corporation of its 56-year-old “independent special district” status, which had granted it the privilege of creating its own regulations, building codes, and other municipal services. However, lawmakers later backtracked and instead voted to give the governor the authority to install the district’s board members. Disney retaliated by quietly reworking its corporate governance structure to disempower DeSantis’s handpicked board. The matter is now being litigated, stretching what initially seemed like a cleanly won battle into something of a quagmire.
Chris Christie and Mike Pence, both of whom are expected to launch their own presidential campaigns next week, have knocked DeSantis for abandoning limited government principles. Nikki Haley has also gone after DeSantis on the issue, inviting Disney to relocate to her home state of South Carolina.
But none of the New Hampshire voters who spoke with National Review had a problem with DeSantis wielding government power to rein in a hostile private company.
Valerie Fraser, a registered Republican who lives in Florida but summers in New Hampshire, feels the governor is taking a much needed “pragmatic” approach.
“I don’t feel like he’s punishing, this is not a small business. This is a huge problem. I think it was just pragmatic,” she said.
Bob Rose, a Republican who intends to support DeSantis, said he supports the governor’s actions against Disney because he’s “protecting our children.”
“He’s not worried about politics,” he said, “He’s going to do the right thing.”
In multiple speeches and interviews since declaring his candidacy, DeSantis has defended his long-term commitment to the fight with Disney on the grounds that the company not only spoke out against the Parental Rights law, but also continues to inject progressive ideology around sex and gender into entertainment products meant for kids.
Pauline Gianunzio, a registered Republican wearing a “Let’s go Brandon” shirt, was also firmly on DeSantis’s side, accusing Disney of enjoying a “free ride” from the state of Florida while trying to indoctrinate children.
“I agree with him” she said of DeSantis’s strategy. It’s not up to Disney or other “big corporations to tell others or try to teach others” about gender identity or sexual orientation. “That’s a personal thing.”
Marilyn Berry, an independent who voted for Trump in 2016 and 2020, wasn’t sure of all the details but if DeSantis is right about what he’s saying, “then why not?”
“Why are they getting away with it? So he’s for the people, he’s for the country, he’s not for the corporations. That’s what’s good about him,” she said.
While the New Hampshire voters who spoke with National Review were unanimously on board with DeSantis’s hardball approach to dealing with large corporations, they were turned off by former President Trump’s personal attacks on his perceived enemies, many of them his own former cabinet officials.
Rose, the Republican voter intent on backing DeSantis, said he is “so tired of the drama” created by Trump.
“I really think that we have to really look into a child’s safety, protecting the innocence of children. I love what [DeSantis] is saying about that,” he said. “He’s not into name calling, he’s not into that trivial drama crap. He’s all about getting things done and he’s proven that in Florida. I’m excited.”
Michael Sawicki, a registered Republican said he hasn’t settled on a candidate to support yet, but doesn’t think he’s support Trump because he’s “too problematic” in “every way,” including his personality and his interactions with the media.
He said he’d like to see DeSantis get more aggressive with his attacks on the former president.
But other voters said it would be a turn off for them if DeSantis gets in the mud with Trump.
Fraser, the Florida native, voted for Trump in 2020 and was considering backing him again this cycle, but was convinced otherwise by DeSantis’s Thursday appearance.
“I was trying to kind of hang on to that thought, that I would continue to vote for Trump. But after today, I feel very strongly for Mr. DeSantis,” she said. “He hit all the highlights of what, in my mind, are important. And I think he’s more articulate and really seems to express what he’s feeling and he just seems really genuine.” He’s also “done a very good job as governor” she said.
But it would be a turn off if DeSantis starts attacking Trump: “I hope he doesn’t, I hope he just keeps it neutral. There’s no good reason to do that. I think he can take the high road, which I’m hoping he will,” Fraser said.
Berry, the independent two-time Trump voter, said she was feeling “a little bit on fire” for DeSantis after hearing him speak in Rochester on Thursday. “I like the fact that he had a blue-collar background … he’s highly educated, but he wasn’t indoctrinated. That’s what I like about it.”
He is “for the people” and he “led Florida out of the muck.” She says Covid “killed our economy” and noted her son almost lost his RV business during the pandemic.
“Everything was shut down. Honestly, we were petrified. I’m 82 years old. We were petrified to step out of our door and I think that was all a lie,” she said.
She said the charismatic first lady of Florida is a bonus for DeSantis’s campaign. Casey DeSantis spoke at all three of the governor’s campaign stops on Thursday and discussed what it is like to raise three children under six from the governor’s mansion and the campaign trail.
DeSantis’s temperament was also a big factor in earning Berry’s support. It was Trump’s “poor mouth [that] killed him,” she said.
DeSantis, by contrast, is “more polished.” She said no one needs to take punches at Trump because he will ruin his own shot at the presidency.
Gloria Hadley, who voted for President Biden in 2020 and was a Democrat her whole life before she switched parties after the 2020 election, also questioned why Disney should “get a free ride” and said that she doesn’t like Trump because he’s a “name calling bully.”
“Trump is a tough opponent but I hope this guy has a good chance,” she said.