Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and Sen. Tim Scott are battling as each tries to fill the lane as the non-Trump candidate in the GOP primary.
DeSantis has been the clear No. 2 in polls in the GOP primary all year, but there are signs that his campaign is faltering amid a reset and negative headlines.
While Scott has yet to emerge as the clear alternative from the crowded pack, his campaign has seen a few bright spots, including some momentum in early state polls and increased interest from donors. The two candidates have also gotten confrontational with each other in recent days, as the two spar over Florida’s Black history standards.
The candidates also represent two starkly different options for Republicans open to a non-Trump alternative: One a pugilistic populist focused on the culture wars, and the other an optimist leaning into his inspirational trajectory.
“What the Never Trump side or the people open to candidates other than Trump are telling you is that Tim Scott has an optimistic message, and right now that optimistic message is stronger than DeSantis’s resume,” said Florida-based GOP strategist Ford O’Connell.
When asked whether he thought Scott was a threat to DeSantis, O’Connell said “absolutely.”
“Tim Scott rising speaks more to Ron DeSantis underachieving expectations,” he added.
Last week, Scott offered his most pointed criticism of DeSantis yet when he was asked about Florida’s new standards for teaching Black history, including language in the curriculum that says students should be taught that enslaved people “developed skills” that benefited them under the system of American slavery.
“There is no silver lining in slavery,” Scott said at a campaign stop in Iowa on Thursday. “Slavery was really about separating families, about mutilating humans and even raping their wives. It was just devastating.”
The senator doubled down on the criticism in an interview on Friday, in which he said, “Whether you’re Kamala Harris or Ron DeSantis, having an opportunity to restate your position against slavery is always something that should be welcomed by all people.”
DeSantis responded to Scott’s criticism when asked about it during a campaign stop last week, saying that “D.C. Republicans all too often accept false narratives, accept lies that are perpetrated by the left.”
“And to accept the lie that Kamala Harris has been perpetrating even when that has been debunked — that’s not the way you do it.”
Scott was not the only Black Republican who spoke out against the curriculum. Florida Rep. Byron Donalds (R), along with Reps. Wesley Hunt (R-Texas) and John James (R-Mich.), all of whom have endorsed Trump, criticized the plan. Donalds appeared to temper his criticism on Friday, telling NewsNation’s “The Hill” that he only disagreed with one line in the curriculum.
However, some Republicans say DeSantis has fumbled in his handling of the backlash.
“This was yet another unforced error from the DeSantis team: While these standards seem to not be what the left and media have made them out to be, DeSantis needs to be having less distractions,” said Alex Stroman, a South Carolina-based GOP strategist. “Politics is about addition not subtraction — and at this point, DeSantis unfortunately seems to be trying to alienate every group of voters.”
The back-and-forth between the two men comes as the Florida governor has suffered a slew of negative headlines in recent weeks, including lagging poll numbers, layoffs in his campaign team and donors reportedly considering other candidates to support, like Scott.
Adding fuel to the fire on Monday, the anti-abortion group Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America knocked DeSantis after he declined to say whether he would back a federal abortion ban in a recent interview. The group called DeSantis’s position on abortion “unacceptable,” several months after he signed a six-week ban in Florida into law.
“Governor DeSantis delivers results and acts, especially when it comes to protecting life. He did so in Florida by signing the heartbeat bill and will be a pro-life president. He does not kowtow to D.C. interest groups,” DeSantis campaign press secretary Bryan Griffin said in response.
“This unjustified attack on him is another example of the D.C. political games that have seen conservatives falter in Washington while Governor DeSantis has produced unmatched conservative victories in Florida,” he added.
Meanwhile, Scott has largely avoided swiping at the other candidates and has seen some modest bumps in polling from early states like Iowa and New Hampshire — something his campaign largely credits because of his message to voters.
But his campaign said they see their prime target as President Biden first and foremost.
“Our chief opponent is going to be Joe Biden, because Tim is working towards being the nominee. So we’re looking at contrasting ourselves not only from Joe Biden, but obviously he has a unique voice within the field of candidates,” said Scott campaign spokeswoman Nicole Morales.
Other Republicans, too, believe Scott could present a serious challenge to DeSantis.
“I think Iowa is do-or-die for both of those candidates, and I think Tim Scott has the ability to do very well in Iowa,” said GOP strategist Alex Conant.
“Ron DeSantis is very dependent on major donors, and Tim Scott appeals to a lot of those same donors,” he added.
Yet national and local polling still underscore the reality that Trump remains the frontrunner in the GOP primary. A New York Times/Siena College poll released Monday showed Trump with 54 percent support, while DeSantis placed next at 17 percent and all others placed at less than 5 percent, including Scott.
Some donors are batting away the polling right now, saying it’s still early.
“You got to realize Tim Scott only really started in April, all right?” said metals magnate and Scott donor Andy Sabin, before pointing to Trump’s legal controversies and whether it could affect if he can even run in the GOP primary.
Sabin is hosting a fundraiser for Scott along with others on Aug. 9 in Bridgehampton, N.Y., and has said he’d like to host several others in Manhattan and at the Ocean Reef Club in Florida. He suggested by the end of the year or even sooner, Scott would be outpacing DeSantis.
But other Republicans say candidates seem to be battling for second place while not consistently going after Trump.
“It sure looks so far like it’s a replay of 2016 where everybody’s trying to get in position to capitalize on a Trump collapse that never materialized in 2016,” explained Arizona-based GOP strategist and Trump campaign alum Brian Seitchik.
“And I get the environment is different. Certainly, President Trump has a lot more baggage this time than he had years ago. But I don’t get this concept of trying to play yourself into second place … if you want the king’s job, you got to go after the king,” he added.
On Monday, DeSantis unveiled his economic plan in Rochester, N.H. The governor declined to take any questions unrelated to that topic.
“No matter how much the media and D.C. elites try to destroy Ron DeSantis, they can’t change the fact that this is a two-man race for the nomination,” said Andrew Romeo, a spokesperson for the DeSantis campaign. “Ron DeSantis is ready to prove the doubters wrong yet again and our campaign is prepared to execute on his vision for the Great American Comeback as we transition into the next phase of winning this primary and beating Joe Biden.”
His supporters are brushing off the notion that Scott or anyone polling below DeSantis is in any way a threat to the Florida governor.
“I don’t think anyone can dispute that it’s a two-person race for the GOP nomination between Trump and DeSantis,” said Justin Sayfie, a Florida-based Republican strategist, referring to the numerous polls showing Trump leading DeSantis.