Republican Ron DeSantis officially filed his candidacy for the 2024 presidential election with US election authorities on Wednesday, AFP reports.

The Florida governor made the nomination in a document sent to the Federal Election Commission hours before a scheduled debate with Elon Musk on Twitter.

Thus, Ron DeSantis becomes the most important opponent of Donald Trump in the fight for the appointment of the candidate of the Republican Party in the presidential elections of the United States next year.

A tough road for DeSantis

In 2018, the former naval officer was narrowly elected to lead Florida in the southeastern United States after receiving the support of Trump, who was then in the White House.

He has since distanced himself from the billionaire and gained notoriety for multiplying ultraconservative attacks on education and immigration.

But Ron DeSantis’ path to the White House is fraught with difficulties.

The 44-year-old governor, on whom many conservatives have pinned their hopes for the presidency after his triumphant re-election in Florida in November 2022, is, according to numerous reports, significantly inferior to Donald Trump, the official candidate as of November 16, 2022. public opinion polls.

His main flaw? A lack of charisma reported by all parties.

“Witch Hunt”

Amidst multiple legal investigations, Donald Trump continues to decry the “witch hunt” — a call to unify his largely loyal base — and plunged headlong into his second run for the White House.

The former president boasts of having collected several million dollars since his historic April 4 indictment in a New York court, which was the subject of a frenzy of media coverage.

However, in this showdown with Donald Trump, Ron DeSantis can count on a massive $110 million war fund that he plans to cash in on to try to make up the gap by flooding the country with ads.

In a recent video produced by his political action committee, a man puts a “DeSantis for President” sticker on a car to cover up “Trump 2016.”

That’s a summary of the message the governor wants to send voters: To the 76-year-old billionaire, Ron DeSantis says he embodies the new guard.

The two men are the two front-runners for the Republican nomination.

Other announced Republican candidates – Nikki Haley, Tim Scott, Asa Hutchinson – rarely exceed 5% of voting intentions.

The battle promises to be fierce. The feud between the two men began long before the Florida governor entered the arena, with harsh statements and rallies.

The Republican nominee will face the Democratic nominee in the November 2024 primary.