22 Key Moments from Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in 2022

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) had quite a year, wrapping it up by winning his reelection bid in a landslide victory. But that 1.5 million voter-plus victory followed a year of key accomplishments, moments, and events in the Sunshine State.

Here are some of the governor’s top moments throughout the year.

1. During the State of the State in early January, DeSantis declared Florida “America’s liberty outpost,” deeming Florida “the freest state in these United States.”

2. Many Americans still struggled under the burden of masks at the beginning of the year, as far-leftists continued to virtue-signal and the Biden administration continued to force masks on modes of public transportation. But DeSantis was always among the first to highlight the sheer hypocrisy of these leftists and their “ruling class mentality.”

   “I mean, you have governors, you have mayors, you have members of Congress — they say one thing, and then they live under different sets of rules,” he said during a January appearance on Fox & Friends.

   “And I think the thing about Florida is we have said you have the ability to make your own decisions. You know, we are not going to use the heavy hand of government to curtail your freedoms or to ruin your livelihoods,” he added, making similar remarks the following month.

    “I mean you have a lot of these politicians, you know they want all these kids force-masked in school, which we don’t allow in Florida, but — and then they’ll take pictures of all these poor kids suffering,” he said, likely referencing failed Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams. “They’re just beaming and smiling with no mask on. I mean, it’s just unbelievable what you’re seeing … but that’s the thing.”

   

   Stacey Abrams received backlash for this photo of her sitting maskless surrounded by school children wearing masks. (@HMBrookins/Twitter)

3. In February, DeSantis denied a request for the state’s National Guard to deploy to D.C. for President Biden’s State of the Union address.

4. In March, DeSantis showed that he practices what he preaches, scolding the “ridiculous” nature of the “COVID theater” behind him ahead of a press conference at the University of South Florida on Wednesday. Some of the individuals standing behind him were posing with masks, prompting him to speak up. 

5. That same month, DeSantis announced that his wife Casey DeSantis was finally cancer-free.

6. DeSantis closed out the state’s 2022 Legislative Session, deeming it the “year of the parent in the state of Florida.” He went on to sign the Parental Rights in Education bill into law, which in part prevented classroom discussions on sexual orientation and gender identity for children in kindergarten through third grade. He also signed a bill designed to ensure curriculum transparency for parents. A Heritage Foundation report later affirmed that Florida leads the nation in educational freedom.

7. The governor continued to debunk the falsehoods touted by leftists in regards to the Parental Rights in Education law as the Florida legislature took action to end Disney’s special tax and governing jurisdiction following its opposition to the pro-parent bill. DeSantis later signed it into law.

8. In March, the Florida Republican infamously declared Olympic silver medalist and Florida native Emma Weyant to be the true winner of the NCAA 500-yard freestyle championship after she was beaten by transgender swimmer Lia Thomas.

9. In April, DeSantis took action, specifically addressing the “fatherhood crisis” in the Sunshine State.

10. He also signed legislation combatting Critical Race Theory (CRT) that same month. “We teach all of that because it’s real history and it’s important. But what we will not do is let people distort history to try to serve their current ideological goals,” the governor said at the time.

11. The governor took action on election integrity, signing legislation in April that increased penalties for ballot harvesting and strengthened voter ID requirements.

12. DeSantis signed a $1.2 billion tax relief package for Floridians, which included a month-long gas tax holiday.

13. In the wake of mobs of activists protesting in front of Supreme Court justices’ homes, DeSantis signed legislation outlawing protests outside of Floridians’ homes.

    “Sending unruly mobs to private residences, like we have seen with the angry crowds in front of the homes of Supreme Court justices, is inappropriate,” he said, noting that the bill would “provide protection to those living in residential communities.”

14. The DeSantis administration got the Special Olympics to drop its vaccine requirement after threatening $27.5 million in fines — a major victory for medical freedom.

15. The DeSantis administration also issued a report challenging the “science” of “transgenderism,” concluding that “gender-affirming” care is not proven to be “safe or effective” but is both “experimental and investigational.” The state later  prohibited Medicaid from covering transgender procedures.

16. DeSantis warned supporters in the summer that the battle against the radical left is spiritual, urging them to “put on the full armor of God.” “Take a stand against the left’s schemes. Stand firm with the belt of truth buckled around your waist. You will face fire from flaming arrows, but the shield of faith will protect you,” he said during a speech at the Sunshine Summit.

17. In September, DeSantis made waves after sending dozens of illegal immigrants to Martha’s Vineyard. “And it just shows you, you know, their virtue signaling is a fraud, ok?” DeSantis said following the mass freakout from sanctuary city supporters. “They are supporting policies that are just frankly indefensible. It is not defensible for a superpower to not have any control over the territory of its country, over the borders of its country.”

18. DeSantis’s administration responded to a massive Category 4 hurricane smashing into the state roughly a month before the midterm elections. Tens of thousands of linemen restored power at a quick pace, and bridges and roads were reconstructed at impressive speed. A tropical storm hit the state weeks later, and once again, recovery was rapid.

19. DeSantis announced in October that registered Republicans in Florida were continuing to outpace Democrats.”When I was standing here four years ago, preparing for the governor’s election, this state had almost 300,000 more registered Democrats than Republicans. And we had never in the history of Florida — prior to me being elected governor — had more registered Republicans and Democrats,” DeSantis said at the time.

20. DeSantis won a blowout victory, defeating Democrat Rep. Charlie Crist (D-FL) by roughly 1.5 million votes, even winning over traditionally blue areas such as Miami-Dade. For greater perspective, DeSantis narrowly won his 2018 bid against Democrat Andrew Gillum by less than half of a percentage point, or 32,463 votes.

21. Following the victory, DeSantis declared that Florida had “rewritten the political map.”

22. In December, DeSantis announced efforts to hold vaccine manufacturers accountable moving forward. He later announced his decision to petition Florida’s Supreme Court to impanel a grand jury to investigate any “wrongdoing” related to the vaccines for the Chinese coronavirus.