Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has filed paperwork with federal election authorities in the United States to run for president, signalling that he is throwing his hat in the ring for the 2024 Republican nomination.
The filing with the Federal Election Commission on Wednesday came ahead of an expected formal announcement he is set to make on Twitter later in the day.
For months, DeSantis has been seen as the most serious challenger to former President Donald Trump, who is also seeking to become the Republican nominee to take on Democratic President Joe Biden next year.
Other Republican candidates include Senator Tim Scott, former envoy to the United Nations Nikki Haley and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy.
Former Vice President Mike Pence, who served under Trump, is also likely to launch a presidential campaign.
DeSantis was endorsed by Trump during his first gubernatorial campaign in 2018, but he has since risen to national prominence in conservative circles as he champions right-wing policies in Florida.
Recent public opinion polls show DeSantis trailing Trump by a wide margin in a hypothetical primary showdown. But with the former president facing legal trouble, including criminal charges in New York, the Florida governor will be hoping to close the gap in the coming months.
The first Republican primaries will take place in Iowa early in 2024.
Trump has been regularly attacking DeSantis and touting his poll numbers on his Truth Social account. But so far, the Florida Governor has largely ignored the criticism from the former president.
A 44-year-old US Navy veteran and former congressman, DeSantis will likely present himself as an alternative to Trump who can take his effective implementation of a right-wing agenda in Florida to the national level.
DeSantis recently suggested that he would be a better nominee than Trump because he can serve for eight years and cement the Supreme Court’s conservative majority. The former president can only serve four because of term limits.
“I think if you look over, you know, the next two presidential terms, there is a good chance that you could be called upon to seek replacements for Justice Clarence Thomas and Justice Samuel Alito,” he said, referring to two conservatives on the top court.
Early on Wednesday, Trump hit out at DeSantis, referring to him as “DeSancuts” for voting to cut social safety net programmes, including Social Security, when he was in Congress.
“Also, he desperately needs a personality transplant and, to the best of my knowledge, they are not medically available yet. A disloyal person!” Trump wrote in a social media post.
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