Florida Republican Governor Ron DeSantis has warned, “There is cause for concern,” about liberal voters and companies fleeing Democrat-run states to Florida, as already is happening in Texas.
“Texas would have all these companies moved from California over the years. So, you’d have companies move from San Francisco to Austin, and they’d bring hundreds of employees with them.
“And those employees would vote the exact same way they voted that turned San Francisco into the dumpster fire that it is.”
DeSantis expressed fears that Florida will experience a similar influx of California-style voters, saying they fail to make the connection between the problems they left behind and the “leftist” policies.
“It’s like the leftism; they will not draw the connection between their leftist ideology and the destruction that’s all around them. It is a problem because I do think there’s a class of voters who would come to Florida, and they would continue to vote the same way.”
The Florida Republican governor’s comments come as many entrepreneurs and high profile companies, many in the technology industry, have expressed interest or have already moved from California to Florida and Texas.
One high-profile move was when Tesla CEO Elon Musk moved from California to Texas last year.
He had publicly spoken about moving Tesla’s headquarters to Texas and recently did so, invested in a large facility close to Austin.
Florida is the ‘freest state’
DeSantis has painted Florida and himself as the antidote to government mandates, Big Tech overreach, and closed schools and emphasized the growing divide between Democratic and Republican leadership during the pandemic and 2020 election.
During his State of the Union speech this year, DeSantis declared Florida “the freest state in these United States.”
He then laid out his legislative agenda, which touched on vaccine mandates, abortion, police funding, voting laws, and critical race theory in schools — drawing a clear line in the sand with Dem-run states.
“Florida has become the escape hatch for those chafing under authoritarian, arbitrary, and seemingly never-ending mandates and restrictions.”
DeSantis has proposed a new Florida investigative unit to enforce election laws. With 52 full-time positions, the proposed force is bigger than many homicide units in Florida cities.
The governor also called Democratic efforts for voting rights “Orwellian doublespeak” while attacking taxpayer funding of elections and ballot harvesting.
He also urged the legislature to extend Second Amendment rights in Florida, which is already considered a “friendly” state to firearm owners.
DeSantis signaled he would sign constitutional carry legislation if it arrived on his desk. He also signed a constitutional carry law, allowing anyone to have a firearm without a permit.
In contrast to Dem-run states, DeSantis has signaled he supports lawmakers’ efforts to restrict abortion in Florida as the Supreme Court of the United States considers the fate of Roe v. Wade, which is the landmark 1973 Supreme Court decision that made abortion legal nationwide.
