Trump and DeSantis hold dueling events in Florida ahead of Election Day

Florida became the epicenter of national Republican politics Sunday on the final round of campaign rallies before Election Day, and even with the conclusion of the midterm election still 48 hours away, it felt to some Republicans as if the 2024 GOP presidential primary had begun.

In west Miami-Dade County, former President Donald Trump held a boisterous event with the who’s who of Florida GOP politics and thousands of supporters to rally support for Republican Sen. Marco Rubio, while Gov. Ron DeSantis criss-crossed the state headlining events that were noticeably nowhere near the former president.

The distance between the two GOP heavyweights, and Trump’s nicknaming DeSantis “Ron DeSanctimonious” at a Pennsylvania rally over the weekend, fueled speculation that the two could be on a 2024 collision course.

READ MORE: ‘Souls to the polls’ is a lively march of dedicated voters with passion for democracy

Both Republicans drew big crowds at their Sunday events, each of which featured swag that has become emblematic of the Trump era in politics. At DeSantis’ rally, for example, multiple people wore “DeSantis Airlines” shirts in reference to his taxpayer-funded migrant flights from Texas to Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts.

Trump did not mock DeSantis on his home turf Sunday. Instead, at the Miami rally, he urged the crowd to vote for Republicans, including DeSantis.

“You’re going to re-elect the wonderful, the great friend of mine, Marco Rubio to the United States Senate and you are going to re-elect Ron DeSantis as your governor,” he said.

The clash between the two Republicans escalated as Florida Democrats tried to mount their final offensive ahead of Election Day.

Democratic gubernatorial candidate Charlie Crist held several events in South Florida with running mate Karla Hernandez-Mats in an effort to energize voters. He visited an early voting site in Miami as “Souls to the Polls” events kicked off from several location. Those events in each election cycle feature Black churches across the state sending droves of Democratic-leaning congregants to vote.

One of those events featured a crowd walking from the African Heritage Cultural Arts Center at 61st Street to the Joseph Caleb Center at 54th Street, where there is an early voting site. The event also had a Junkanoo band in vibrant, bedazzled attire, an instrumental performance of “Don’t Stop ‘til You Get Enough” and colorful slushies. Even the sudden downpour of rain couldn’t stifle the celebration.

Numbers are in Republicans’ favor

Still, participation by Democrats was sluggish in early voting, a concerning sign as the party tends to bank a voting advantage early ahead of a wave of Republican voters that generally shows up in larger numbers on Election Day.

As of Sunday morning, Republicans had a 331,185-vote advantage statewide in mail and early votes, increasing the urgency of Democrats concerned that they could continue to lose power in the third most populous state in the country.

In Miami-Dade, the state’s most populous county, a similar scenario has been playing out. By 5:40 p.m. on Sunday, the last day of early voting, Republicans had a nearly 6,000-vote lead over Democrats in early voting and mail ballots. But Democrats were able to chip away at the 7,000-vote advantage Republicans had started with at 8:15 a.m. Sunday.

Miami Republicans were optimistic about the voting trends. At the Trump rally, state Rep. Daniel Perez told the crowd: “Miami-Dade County will go red.”

DeSantis held rallies in Hillsborough, Lee and Sarasota counties on Sunday. His message was focused on his management of Hurricane Ian recovery and the pandemic, railing against providing COVID-19 vaccines to young children, criticizing President Joe Biden’s policies and his fight against the “woke ideology.”

“Nov. 8th is really the first time that every American gets to go to the polls and just tell Joe Biden what you think of his policies. You can send a loud message to him on that,” DeSantis said during a campaign event in Sun City Center. “And I think he needs to hear that.”

DeSantis urged supporters to vote for Republicans up and down the ballot.

“We have an opportunity to add to the U.S. House of Representatives from Florida. We currently have 16 Republicans, we could have after Election Day at least 20 Republicans going to Washington,” he said. “That’s possible and likely maybe.”

He added that Republicans in the Legislature could secure super-majority status in both chambers after the election, and make gains in local school board races.

“Are you ready to storm the polls on Tuesday?” he asked. “Are you ready to keep Florida free?”

Different midterm approaches

Even before Sunday arrived, Trump and DeSantis had taken different approaches to the 2022 midterm election cycle — and how much support to offer fellow Republican candidates.

Trump has barnstormed across the country in recent weeks, backing GOP contenders in states such as Iowa and Pennsylvania. But his support has been mixed with sharp-elbowed criticism for Republicans he believes are disloyal.

In the Colorado Senate race, for example, Trump criticized GOP nominee Joe O’Dea as a “Republican in name only” and urged his supporters not to vote for him. O’Dea had said he would campaign against Trump should the former president run again in 2024.

And just days before coining his nickname for DeSantis, Trump singled out U.S. Senate Leader Mitch McConnell for criticism, calling on the lawmaker from Kentucky to be impeached if he supports a congressional plan abolishing the country’s debt limit.

“It’s crazy what’s happening with this debt ceiling. Mitch McConnell keeps allowing it to happen. I mean, they ought to impeach Mitch McConnell if he allows that,” Trump said on a conservative talk radio program last week. “Frankly, something has to be — they have something on him. How he approves this thing is incredible.”

Trump’s timing called into question

Trump’s criticism this close to Election Day has elicited some blowback from conservatives.

Stafford Jones, a Gainesville-based Republican political consultant who rarely posts on Twitter, wrote: “Donald Trump belittling and name-calling our Florida Governor two days before the 2022 midterms, in which our Governor is on the ballot ... unforgivable.”

Trump’s direct slight at DeSantis stands in stark contrast to the governor’s less antagonistic actions

In the days after Trump’s criticism of O’Dea, DeSantis lent his voice to a robocall supporting the Colorado Republican — putting him in direct conflict with the former president.

And after campaigning for GOP candidates in a half-dozen states, a string of appearances he made time for even as he was running his own reelection effort, DeSantis also helped cut an ad backing Utah Sen. Mike Lee, who faces a more difficult than expected race this year.

The ad, run by the fiscal conservative political group Club for Growth, came together after officials reached out to DeSantis’ aides seeking help, according to David McIntosh, president of the Club for Growth.

McIntosh, speaking on a call with reporters last week, said the governor’s ad was directed at the conservative base, where he said DeSantis was particularly popular.

“Ron has become a national leader in the party,” McIntosh said.

Back in Florida, Joe Gruters, the chairman of the Republican Party of Florida, said it was not the party’s role to pick candidates when he spoke at the Trump rally in Miami. The party has been sending pro-DeSantis mailers to voters out of state throughout the election cycle, including in Wisconsin, South Carolina and Texas.

But before Gruters left the stage on Sunday, he asked the crowd to start a chant.

“Run, Trump, run!” he said.

The crowd obliged.

Miami Herald staff writers Bianca Padró Ocasio, Mary Ellen Klas, Gethel Aguila and Tess Riski contributed to this report.