AKRON, Ohio—Almost 1,000 miles north of the Florida governor’s mansion he now calls home, Gov. Ron DeSantis is considered “a person that we can adopt here in Ohio as our own,” Bryan Williams, chair of the Summit County Republican Party, said.
As Williams introduced DeSantis as a guest speaker to a sold-out crowd of 700 people on April 13, he pointed out that the governor’s mother and wife both hail from the Buckeye State.
If DeSantis does decide to run for president, Ohio would be a coveted prize; no Republican has ever won the White House without carrying Ohio.
Gary Cates, a former Ohio lawmaker, attends the Summit County Republican Party’s Lincoln Day Breakfast in Akron, Ohio, on April 13, 2023. (Janice Hisle/The Epoch Times)
As Gary Cates, a former state lawmaker, headed into the Akron event to hear DeSantis’ remarks, he told The Epoch Times: “Everyone’s wanting, at this point, to know whether he’s running.”…