Ron DeSantis

Described as

American politician (born 1978)

Other names

Ronald Dion DeSantis, Ronald D. DeSantis, Ronald DeSantis, Gov. DeSantis, Governor DeSantis, DeSantis

Born

September 14, 1978

Born in

Jacksonville · 1 reference

Name at birth

Ronald Dion DeSantis

Citizen of

United States

Occupation

politician · 2 references; naval officer; judge advocate; writer · 1 reference; governor · 1 reference; jurist · 1 reference; prosecutor · 1 reference

Positions held

United States representative (2013–2018) · 2 references; Governor of Florida (2019–) · 1 reference

Political party

Republican Party · 2 references

Worked for

Darlington School; United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida (2008–2010); Holland & Knight (–2012)

Education

Dunedin High School (–1997) · 1 reference; Yale College (–2001) · 1 reference; Harvard Law School (–2005) · 2 references; Naval Justice School (–2005)

Member of

Delta Kappa Epsilon; St. Elmo Society; Veterans of Foreign Wars; American Legion

Teams

Yale Bulldogs baseball (1998–2001) · 1 reference

Known for

Dreams from Our Founding Fathers: First Principles in the Age of Obama; The Courage to Be Free

Awards

Bronze Star Medal · 1 reference; National Defense Service Medal · 1 reference; Iraq Campaign Medal · 1 reference; Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal · 1 reference; Global War on Terrorism Service Medal · 1 reference; Time 100 (2022) · 1 reference

Spouse

Casey DeSantis (2009–) · 1 reference

Religion

Catholicism · 1 reference

Military branch

United States Navy (2004–2010) · 1 reference; United States Navy Reserve (2010–) · 1 reference

Military rank

lieutenant commander · 1 reference

Lived in

Ponte Vedra Beach; Palm Coast; Tallahassee · 1 reference

Nickname

Ron

Website

https://rondesantis.com/ · 1 reference

Wikipedias with a page

55

Wikidata item Q3105215 (wikidata.org/wiki/Q3105215), public domain (CC0). Copied November 13, 2026.

Ronald Dion DeSantis (; born September 14, 1978) is an American politician, attorney, and former naval officer serving since 2019 as the 46th governor of Florida. A member of the Republican Party, he served from 2013 to 2018 as the U.S. representative from Florida's 6th congressional district. DeSantis was a candidate for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, withdrawing his candidacy in January 2024.
Born in Jacksonville, Florida, DeSantis graduated from Yale University with a Bachelor of Arts and from Harvard Law School with a Juris Doctor. He joined the U.S. Navy in 2004 and was promoted to lieutenant before serving as a legal advisor to SEAL Team One. He was stationed at Joint Task Force Guantanamo in 2006 and was deployed to Iraq in 2007. When DeSantis returned to the U.S. about eight months later, the U.S. attorney general appointed DeSantis to serve as a special assistant U.S. attorney at the U.S. Attorney's Office in the Middle District of Florida, a position he held until his honorable discharge from active military duty in 2010.
DeSantis was first elected to Congress in 2012 and was reelected in 2014 and 2016. During his tenure, he became a founding member of the Freedom Caucus and was an ally of President Donald Trump. He briefly ran for U.S. Senate in 2016 but withdrew when incumbent senator Marco Rubio sought reelection. After winning the Republican nomination in the 2018 gubernatorial election, DeSantis defeated Tallahassee mayor and Democratic nominee Andrew Gillum by 0.4%.
DeSantis was governor during the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as during major hurricanes Ian, Helene, and Milton. He encouraged the passage of the Parental Rights in Education Act and the Heartbeat Protection Act. In the 2022 gubernatorial election, he defeated former governor Charlie Crist by 19.4%, the largest margin for either party in a gubernatorial race since 1982. In his second term, DeSantis signed Florida Senate Bill 266 and established the Florida departments of Commerce and Government Efficiency. On May 24, 2023, DeSantis announced his candidacy for the Republican nomination for president of the United States. On January 21, 2024, he withdrew from the presidential race and endorsed Trump.

Born, in its opening lines

September 14, 1978

From the Wikipedia article “Ron DeSantis” (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ron_DeSantis), by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Copied November 13, 2026; not changed.