The Megastate G.O.P. Rivalry Between Abbott and DeSantis

AUSTIN, Texas – Governor Ron DeSantis of Florida wanted to irritate a group of wealthy, liberal elites when he brought migrants to Martha’s Vineyard from Texas, providing them with a slice of a looming humanitarian crisis. along the southern border of the country.

But Mr. DeSantis’ stunt also upset an entirely different group – Austin Republicans, including some allies and aides of Governor Greg Abbott of Texas.

Publicly, Mr Abbott has not criticized Mr DeSantis’ migration flights from his state. “Every state wants to help, I’m happy about that,” said Dave Carney, Abbott’s top campaign strategist.

But privately, the Florida governor’s gambling has been a headache for Mr. Abbott’s team. According to people familiar with the matter, no one in the Texas governor’s office was informed that Mr. DeSantis had planned to clear the migrants in San Antonio.

Mr. Abbott has spent months – and millions of dollars in state taxes – orchestrating a methodical resettlement program that, since April, has attracted 11,000 migrants to Washington, New York and Chicago. Mr. DeSantis’s adaptation is considerably smaller.

But it immediately brought DeSantis to national attention, garnering headlines and earning him praise from Republicans and condemnation from Democrats. It also led to a San Antonio sheriff’s investigation and a lawsuit from migrants who say they were lured onto planes under false pretenses. Mr DeSantis has captured the attention of the US right, using Mr Abbott’s tactics on Mr Abbott’s field to greater and more dramatic effect.

DeSantis’ political theatrical instincts helped him quickly become the leading Republican replacement for former President Donald J. Trump. Even Texas Republicans tell the pollsters that they prefer Mr. DeSantis to Mr. Abbott for the presidency in 2024.

Two Republican governors have been locked in an ever-increasing rivalry for one-sided morale, using their own unique label of conservatism and pushing the boundaries by using desperate migrants to political gain. In Florida, Mr. DeSantis musedly told donors last year about Abbott’s good political fortunes when he shared 1,254 miles of the border with Mexico and complained he didn’t have a wallpaper to use, according to reports. someone familiar with the conversation. .

For all the pitfalls, the fight between Austin and Tallahassee was decidedly cold rather than hot. However, the policy moves of the two governors at odds with the Biden administration and the Democratic Party as a whole have played out as a call and response among states, with national consequences.

In August 2020, Mr. Abbott proposed legislation that would penalize Texas cities that deprive police departments of funding by preventing them from raising more income from property taxes. The following month, Mr. DeSantis went further, saying he would seek to cut off state funding from cities that had distrusted police.

In February of this year, Mr. Abbott command state officials are opening child abuse investigations into medically acceptable treatments for transgender youth, including hormones and puberty-suppressing drugs. Last month, Mr. DeSantis speak Doctors who “disfigured” young people with sex-affirming care should be sued.

In June 2021, on the first day of Pride Month, Mr. DeSantis signed a bill banning transgender girls from competing on girls’ sports teams at public schools. Mr Abbott followed suit with a similar measure in October of that year.

The rivalry between Mr DeSantis and Mr Abbott has more to do with their job descriptions than any personal animosity. Governors elected to lead megacities like Florida and Texas — two of America’s three largest states, accounting for 15% of the Republican presidential vote in 2020 — are automatically placed on the national scene. countries, where they are increased in size and closely watched for signs of the House Ambitious White.

“Love Florida. Love Texas. Love Florida more,” said Jeb Bush, a former Florida governor with deep family ties to Texas, when asked about the rivalry between the two states.

When Rick Scott was governor of Florida and Rick Perry was governor of Texas, the two Ricks shared feelings even as they both kept their eyes on the White House. From Florida, Mr. Scott spoke excitedly about his counterpart’s record of attracting business. In Texas, Mr. Perry admired his opponent’s refusal to accept federal stimulus money for railroads or Medicaid expansion.

Mr. DeSantis and Mr. Abbott lacked such close friendship. Their enthusiasm was evident in the background of their re-election bids. Both men are seeking additional four-year terms while facing prominent Democrats in contests that could help define their presidential aspirations and their direction. Republican Party for years to come.

Chris Wilson, a pollster who has worked for both of them, said: “Nobody ever elected governor of a small state but somewhere deep down in their heart, begins to dream of becoming one. become president. “So it’s not surprising to see both Abbott and DeSantis joking around at least in 2024 or beyond.”

Mr. Abbott is a more institutional politician.

He faced no opposition in the first primaries for attorney general in 2002, and fell out of favor within the party when he ran to succeed Perry as governor in 2014. worked to maintain relationships with business groups, social conservatives and Republicans. governors. Having served as a judge on the Supreme Court of Texas, he was quite a governor attorney.

Mr. DeSantis is more instinctive.

He emerged from the six-way Republican primaries in the first race for the House of Representatives in 2012. He was seen as the underdog in the 2018 gubernatorial primaries until he returned. should be separated from the group, thanks to the endorsement – and constant promotion – from Mr. Trump. A former Navy attorney at Guantánamo Bay, he is more conservative than judicial.

However, Mr. DeSantis has positioned himself as a political loner.

He has avoided events coordinated by the tight-knit Association of Republican Governors. Instead of joining a group of incumbent and former Republican governors in this year’s campaign to support incumbents, Mr. DeSantis embarked on his own path to victory, promoting Migration flights during the campaign stop with Republican candidates for governor in Kansas and Wisconsin. Those events were organized not by the Association of Republican Governors, but by Turning Point USA, a group of younger and more provocative conservative activists close to Mr. Trump and his family. .

In Tallahassee, migration flights have been discussed for more than a year and at one point, focused on resettling migrants to the Hamptons, the popular Long Island destination of New York’s wealthy, according to people familiar with the negotiations. Initially, the proposal caused some divisions within Mr. DeSantis’ team.

Mr Abbott and Mr DeSantis’ contrasting styles were evident last year when they handled high-profile electoral bills.

When Mr Abbott signed a new round of voting restrictions, he arrived in Tyler, home of one of the bill’s main proponents, and surrounded by lawmakers, supporters and Party reporters. Republic. When Mr. DeSantis signed his state’s voting restrictions, he was also surrounded by Florida Republicans, but the only network allowed to cover the event was Fox News, which streamed it live. footage from the show “Fox & Friends”.

The coronavirus pandemic is a pivotal moment for both governors.

Mr. DeSantis has confounded his conservatism by challenging Covid safety guidelines from public health officials. He lifted pandemic restrictions on Florida businesses in September 2020, earlier than most governors.

By contrast, Mr Abbott finds himself at odds with conservatives over the business restrictions and face covering mandate he has ordered. Several donors have confronted Mr Abbott, expressing their frustration that he is not following Mr DeSantis’ lead and hinting that he could lose the re-election if he does not proceed faster to reopen businesses and get the situation back to normal, according to two Republicans involved. in a meeting.

Mr Abbott finally lifted restrictions on the business in March 2021, months after Mr DeSantis did.

“Governor Abbott and Governor DeSantis have a strong working relationship, having worked together on various initiatives through the Republican governors’ organizations,” said Renae Eze, press secretary for the Republican Party. Mr. Abbott, said.

A spokesman for Mr DeSantis did not respond to a request for comment about his relationship with Mr Abbott and his comments about the border with donors last year.

Last year, after the Biden administration began and the number of migrants arriving at the border increased, Mr. Abbott and Governor Doug Ducey of Arizona sought support from other states to help border police.

Florida sent a large contingent of officers and equipment, including low-water boats that could be used along the Rio Grande in Texas.

Soon after, Mr. DeSantis planned a trip to visit Florida officers stationed at the border. When members of Abbott’s office learned of the Florida governor’s trip, they scheduled a press conference about Mr. DeSantis’ arrival and invited him, according to a person familiar with the plans.

On the day of the press conference in July 2021, in the hangar in Del Rio, Texas, Mr. DeSantis arrived long before Mr. Abbott. He met Florida officers and officers from Texas, and then spent a long time sitting on the couch in the hangar waiting for Mr. Abbott, who arrived about 10 minutes before the meeting.

The two men wore identical black button-down shirts with their respective state seals embossed on the left breast pocket (long sleeves for Mr DeSantis, short sleeves for Mr Abbott). They took their positions on a table in front of a boat, a plane and a helicopter that had been used to patrol the border. They then continued to run into each other by chance at the start of the press conference.

“I think we’re ready to go,” Abbott began.

“Okay,” Mr. DeSantis said, looking into the camera.

“Good,” Mr Abbott added.

“Well,” said Mr. DeSantis, right elbow toward the Texas governor sitting next to him.

“So,” Mr. Abbott said, looking back at Mr. DeSantis. “Oh. Help start it up?”

“I just wanted to thank—” Mr. DeSantis said.

“Certainly,” Mr. Abbott said.

“Thanks Greg for organizing it for us,” Mr. DeSantis said, returning to the camera.

Mr. Abbott invited Republican governors to another press conference at the border in October of that year. Ten appeared.

Mr. DeSantis was not among them.