Democrats dragged Casey DeSantis into a smear ad twelve days before the Florida AG election.
Ron DeSantis just found out.
And Ron DeSantis just called this Democrat a major league dirtbag and promised to bring the funk.
Who Is José Javier Rodríguez and Why Did He Just Make a Powerful Enemy
Most Floridians had never heard of José Javier Rodríguez before Wednesday.
DeSantis made sure that changed fast.
“I see this online — this commercial that this jabroni down here is running where they put my wife, our First Lady, in it,” DeSantis said after a Miami-Dade roundtable. “His name is José Javier Rodríguez. He’s running for office. I didn’t even know who the hell he was before I saw this, but I’m just going to say, this guy is a huge, huge dirtbag.”
What set DeSantis off was a Florida Democrat Party ad featuring First Lady Casey DeSantis holding a check for $10 million.
Democrats are weaponizing a sealed grand jury report – a report leaked to CBS Miami in August that DeSantis called a politically motivated smear against his wife from the start.
The grand jury itself found insufficient evidence to charge anyone criminally.
Nobody would take responsibility for any of it.
But Rodriguez doesn't need a conviction – he needs a television ad.
DeSantis wasn't having it.
"For him to put our First Lady – my wife, who has done an amazing job for this state and never received a dime for all the stuff she's done – into a commercial? That's a major league dirtbag," DeSantis said. "I'm going to ensure that he ends up suffering a very stinging defeat in November."
A Biden Bureaucrat Who Wants to Be Florida's Top Cop
Rodríguez spent years in the Florida Legislature before taking a job in Biden's Department of Labor as assistant secretary.
He introduced a bill in the Florida Senate to wipe out cash bail.
Now he wants to run the office that puts people behind bars.
The race is closer than Republicans expected – a St. Pete Polls survey from October 5 through 7 showed incumbent AG James Uthmeier leading Rodríguez just 45 to 43 percent, within the margin of error.
That margin is what made Rodríguez bold enough to put Casey DeSantis in an ad.
"I'm going to bring the funk," DeSantis promised.
The Last Twelve Days
Uthmeier holds Trump's personal endorsement, the Republican Attorneys General Association's seven-figure investment, and the Florida Sheriffs Association's full backing.
Rodríguez has the AFL-CIO, Maxwell Alejandro Frost, and a desperate move that just woke up the most politically dangerous man in Florida state government.
Democrats haven't won the Florida attorney general race since Bob Butterworth left in 2002.
Rodríguez bet that dragging Casey DeSantis into his closing argument would finally break that streak.
He got something else entirely – a governor who just promised the entire state of Florida he's going to make this personal.
November 3 is twelve days away.
Sources:
- A.G. Gancarski, "Ron DeSantis vows to 'bring the funk' on 'major league dirtbag' AG candidate José Javier Rodríguez," Florida Politics, October 21, 2026.
- Staff Report, "2026 Florida Attorney General election," Florida Politics, updated October 2026.
- Staff Report, "Grand jury says DeSantis administration 'misappropriated' $10 million of taxpayer money for Hope FL," Action News Jax, August 28, 2026.
- Staff Report, "Uthmeier, Gov. DeSantis tout 20 election fraud arrests," WFLA News, September 25, 2026.
