Stage Set for Republican Showdown in New England
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS — On Monday, Ron DeSantis officially filed paperwork in Boston to appear on the ballot for the Massachusetts primary in March. The Bay State is critical to DeSantis’ success on Super Tuesday in the race to win the GOP nomination.
“A COUNTRY ON THE SKIDS”
“I think the country is on the skids,” DeSantis told Boston’s CBS affiliate. “We’re in a state of decline. We need to reverse that decline economically, militarily, culturally and get us on a pathway to success. I’m the guy that can get that done.”
When asked for his take on the GOP’s failure to elect a Speaker of the House after Kevin McCarthy’s ousting, DeSantis said lawmakers need to shift focus from themselves to their constituents.
“There’s a lack of leadership in Washington, D.C., so you need someone that’s gonna be able to lead with an agenda that the American people get behind – then these guys will fall in line once they see the support from the public,” DeSantis said.
“Left to their own devices, a lot of these guys have their own agenda and I think they’re leaving the American people’s issues in the rear-view mirror, the governor added. “And when you’re in elected office it’s not about your issues – it’s about the people that you represent.”
WINNER TAKES ALL?
To protect then-President Donald Trump in 2020, Massachusetts’ cash-strapped state GOP took a winner-take-all approach to delegates in their primary. But they also created a contingency plan:
If a candidate doesn’t earn 50 percent of the vote, anyone who wins more than 10 percent will receive GOP delegates. While the rule primarily benefits Trump, if DeSantis can convince enough voters to choose an alternative to the former president, he can still earn coveted delegates – representatives selected to represent states at the Republican National Convention.
“We want to find ways to make candidates come here,” Ron Kaufman, Massachusetts’ Republican National Committeeman, said. “We wanted to have it so candidates who work hard, spend their time, effort and energy to come here – and they help us by coming here, too – get their just rewards.”
On March 5 next year, Super Tuesday primaries will take place in Alabama, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont and Virginia.
The DeSantis campaign hopes to gain momentum through victories in early-voting states, setting the tone for Florida’s governor to earn significant delegates on Super Tuesday.