DeSantis seems like he’s the next major “free media” beneficiary. One of the few non-Ukraine news stories to break through in the last few weeks was the outcry over the new Florida legislation that critics have dubbed “Don’t Say Gay.” (My colleague Zach Wolf has a strong article on what is actually in the bill and what it means.)

Indeed, DeSantis is continuing to lap other potential non-Trump 2024 candidates in Fox cable mentions. In about the last six months, “DeSantis” has been mentioned 920 to 950 times (depending on the day you start counting from), per the Internet Archive’s Television News Archive. “[Mike] Pence” and “[Ted] Cruz” have been mentioned about 900 times — combined.

The same was true nearly a year ago when I wrote “How the numbers show Ron DeSantis’ stock is rising.” It doesn’t hurt DeSantis that the bill that recently passed in Florida is popular among Republicans, both in-state and nationally, and that he is a strong favorite for reelection as governor this year.