Over the past week, COVID-19 infections have surged in Florida to the point that the state now accounts for about 1 in 5 new cases. The vaccination rate, meanwhile, has begun to level off. At the same time, Florida’s Gulf Coast is suffering from a particularly harsh bout of red tide, prompting local officials to call on the governor to declare a state of emergency…

“He’s running for president, not for governor. He’s much more interested in fundraising and shallow and destructive appeals to the MAGA base,” Thomas Kennedy, a Democratic National Committee member from Florida, said, using the acronym for “Make America Great Again,” former President Trump’s campaign slogan…

“DeSantis — really besides Donald Trump — is kind of on top of the world with Republicans right now,” one Republican consultant said. “And really, considering that he’s still in office, he’s going to take a lot of the criticism that Democrats used to direct into President Trump.”