Ahead of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ Wednesday stop in South Carolina, a group opposing his policies and working to shine a spotlight on his “divisive policies and relentless political ambition” is launching a 15-second digital ad warning Palmetto State residents they they “can’t afford” DeSantis’ brand of politics.
“Under Ron DeSantis, costs in Florida are on the rise. Housing costs are rising, insurance rates are rising, utility bills are rising. Why? Because Ron DeSantis works for billionaires and corporate elites,” a DeSantis Watch ad narrator states before the closing punch. “South Carolina can’t afford Ron DeSantis.”
DeSantis Watch doesn’t list itself as a partisan organization, but its issues align more closely with Democrats than Republicans, including on reproductive health access, guns and education.
In a press release announcing its latest ad, a five-figure buy called “Rising,” DeSantis Watch calls DeSantis’ expected presidential bid a “flailing shadow campaign” and points to “massive gas shortages following severe flooding” and his “real record, which has led to an affordability crisis gripping the state.”
The ad aims to “introduce Ron to the people of South Carolina” by highlighting rising costs and DeSantis’ “favors for his billionaire and corporate elite donors.”
“As Ron DeSantis increasingly spends his time outside the state he was elected to serve, it is vital that all Americans know what his actual blueprint for Florida has meant here at home,” said DeSantis Watch Communications Director Anders Croy.
“In Ron DeSantis’ Florida, our housing costs have increased faster than anywhere else in the country, we are paying three times the national average for property insurance, and our utility rates are skyrocketing by double digits every few months. The truth is Ron DeSantis is only concerned with helping his billionaire and corporate elite donors who have seen their profits soar while workers and seniors in Florida have fallen behind. South Carolinians cannot afford Ron DeSantis and neither can the rest of the country.”
The South Carolina spot follows another five-figure ad buy in New Hampshire, which also coincided with a DeSantis visit to the state. That ad likewise highlighted rising costs in Florida.
DeSantis is visiting Charleston and Spartanburg Wednesday, his first public trip to South Carolina ahead of an expected presidential announcement in the coming weeks.
The Florida Governor has been touring the country in a series of high-profile stops, including in Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and Georgia.
DeSantis is expected during his South Carolina visit to promote his “Florida blueprint” agenda. He stopped in Charleston Wednesday morning at the North Charleston Coliseum and is heading later to the Summerville Country Club for a closed-press event.
