Ron DeSantis beat Disney when every skeptic in Florida said it would end his career.
That was just one of the many battles DeSantis won against the Left.
And Ron DeSantis just listed every fight that Democrats and establishment Republicans said he would lose.
The Man Who Beat Everyone They Said Was Unbeatable
DeSantis took the stage in Osceola County to rally support for Navy veteran Dan Green, the Republican nominee running to flip Florida's 9th Congressional District red in November.
But the crowd didn't just hear a campaign pitch.
https://twitter.com/FLVoiceNews/status/2103208711535669629?s=20
They heard a governor who spent eight years being told he was making mistakes – and winning anyway.
"We beat Dr. Fauci on COVID," DeSantis told the crowd.
"We beat Disney on gender ideology."
"We beat Soros on crime by removing two of his prosecutors."
"We beat Martha's Vineyard on illegal immigration."
"We just beat the Muslim Brotherhood by banning Sharia law."
"We beat the teachers unions by enacting universal school choice for all Florida families."
One win after another – from the organizations that had spent decades convincing Americans they were too powerful to fight.
While Washington, DC Spent America Into a $40 Trillion Hole
The federal debt just crossed $40 trillion.
Congress keeps adding trillions.
Florida cut its budget four years in a row.
DeSantis didn't mention that contrast quietly – he made it the centerpiece.
"If you take all of Florida's debt for all of our history up until the time I became governor, just in my tenure, we will retire 54% of the state's debt – more than cutting it in half," he told the crowd.
That's not a press release claim.
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Florida's signed 2026-27 budget carries $16.75 billion in reserves and $250 million in accelerated debt paydown – while delivering nearly $10 billion in total tax relief over DeSantis's tenure.
The dollar menu at McDonald's is $2.99 now, he pointed out.
Everything costs more – except in-state tuition at Florida's public universities, which hasn't moved a single penny since he took office.
State spending is going down while Washington borrows trillions to stay open.
The Blueprint That Washington Has Never Tried
The Florida model isn't complicated.
Pick the fight. Win it. Move to the next one.
Don't take polls.
Don't ask permission.
Don't back down when the media calls you reckless.
DeSantis said Tuesday he has never polled a single issue in his entire time as governor – not once.
"When you get in a position to lead, you either do it or you should just sit down," he told the crowd.
That philosophy produced the Disney fight.
A lot of people told him he was making a mistake – that no Florida governor had ever challenged the company, and none should start now.
DeSantis didn't care.
"Do we want a society in which our six-year-olds are being told they can change genders, or do we want a society rooted in truth?" he said.
He chose the truth.
Disney spent millions opposing him.
He won.
Now he's asking voters in the 9th District to send Dan Green to Washington, DC with the same mandate – fight everything, apologize for nothing.
Redistricting shifted the district from Likely Democrat to Likely Republican, and November 3rd is 33 days away.
The Man Green Is Running Against Has Been There Since 2013
Darren Soto has held Florida's 9th District seat for 13 years.
Thirteen years while the federal debt crossed $40 trillion.
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Thirteen years while Florida parents begged Washington, DC to let them choose their kids' schools – and Soto's party blocked it.
DeSantis did it anyway, at the state level, without asking permission.
DeSantis won re-election in 2022 by nearly 20 points in a state that was a tossup every cycle for a decade.
Washington, DC has produced deficits and dysfunction for 30 years because the people sent there cared more about staying than leading.
Soto has stayed.
Green already served.
The crowd in St. Cloud on Tuesday night understood the difference.
Sources:
- Ron DeSantis, Rally Remarks, St. Cloud, Florida, September 30, 2026.
- "Governor Ron DeSantis Announces the Floridians First 2026-2027 Budget," Office of the Governor of Florida, December 10, 2025.
- "Gov. DeSantis Signs $117.6B Florida Budget with Tax Relief, Debt Reduction and Record Reserves," Fox 13 News, 2026.
- "Dan Green Wins 9th Congressional District Republican Primary," The Floridian, August 18, 2026.
- "GOP Primary Nominee Dan Green to Face Rep. Darren Soto for Florida's Congressional District 9," Fox 35 Orlando, August 19, 2026.
