Gov. Desantis Tours Distant Battleground States to Support Local Candidates He Had Not Previously Heard Of

LANSING — Gov. Desantis spent the weekend two thousand miles from his own state, addressing union halls and shaking hands across a battleground whose elections he described as having 'profound and outsized importance' — a phrase that applies equally to the midterms he mentioned and the primary he did not.

The governor met local candidates, praised local workers, and consumed local food in front of local cameras. His office characterized the trip as party-building. Rival operatives characterized it as the longest job application in American politics. The Press notes both characterizations are re-issued every four years with the names rotated, like tires.

Asked directly about 2028, Desantis laughed warmly and redirected to the importance of flipping the state legislature — a legislature in which he cannot vote, in a state where he does not live.

Voters interviewed at the hall split precisely on party lines over whether an out-of-state governor courting their delegates early is 'showing up for us' or 'measuring the drapes.' All confirmed they had held the opposite view of the previous out-of-state governor.

The governor's plane departed Sunday for home, refueled, and — sources could not confirm but The Press assumes — banked gently over Iowa.