Ron DeSantis

Ron DeSantis
U.S. House, Florida, District 6
Incumbent
Tenure
January 3, 2013-present
Term ends
January 3, 2017
Years in position 12
Party	Republican
Predecessor	Cliff Stearns (R)
Report an officeholder change
Compensation
Base salary	$174,000/year
Elections and appointments
Last election	November 4, 2014
First elected	November 6, 2012
Election date	November 8, 2016
Campaign $	$2,256,481
Term limits	N/A
Education
Bachelor's	Yale University
J.D.	Harvard Law School
Military service
Service/branch	United States Navy, JAG prosecutor, United States Navy reserve
Years of service	2004-Present
Citations	Bronze Star Medal
Personal
Date of birth	Sept. 14, 1974
Place of birth	Jacksonville, FL
Profession	Lawyer
Net worth	(2012) $-36,499.50
Religion	Catholic
Websites
Office website
Campaign website
Ron DeSantis campaign logo

Ron DeSantis (b. Sept. 14, 1974, in Jacksonville, FL) is a Republican member of the U.S. House representing the 6th Congressional District of Florida. He was first elected on November 6, 2012.

DeSantis won re-election to the U.S. House in 2014. He ran unopposed for the Republican nomination in the primary election. He then defeated David Cox (D) in the general election on November 4, 2014.

As of a 2014 analysis of multiple outside rankings, DeSantis is a more moderate right of center Republican Party vote. As a result, he may break with the Republican Party line more than his fellow members.

Biography

DeSantis was born in Jacksonville, FL, on September 14, 1978. DeSantis wrote the book Dreams From Our Founding Fathers in late 2011. The book prompted DeSantis to run for political office.

Career

Below is an abbreviated outline of DeSantis' academic, professional and political career:

• 2013-present: U.S. Representative from Florida's 6th Congressional District
• 2010-Present: U.S. Navy Reserve
• 2004-2010: U.S. Navy
  • 2005-2010: U.S. Navy, JAG prosecutor
    • Advisor for a U.S. Navy SEAL commander in support of the SEAL counterinsurgency mission in Iraq
    • Received bronze Star Medal for meritorious service in Iraq
• 2005: Graduated from Harvard University with a J.D.
• 2001: Graduated from Yale University with a B.A.

Committee assignments

U.S. House

2015-2016

DeSantis serves on the following committees:

• Foreign Affairs Committee
• Judiciary Committee
• Oversight and Government Reform Committee

2013-2014

DeSantis served on the following committees:

• Committee on Foreign Affairs
  • Subcommittee on Western Hemisphere
• Committee on Oversight and Government Reform
  • Subcommittee on Economic Growth, Job Creation, and Regulatory Affairs
  • Subcommittee on Federal Workforce, U.S. Postal Service, and The Census
• Committee on the Judiciary
  • Subcommittee on the Constitution and Civil Justice
  • Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property, and the Internet

Key votes

113th Congress

The second session of the 113th Congress enacted into law 224 out of the 3215 introduced bills (7 percent). Comparatively, the 112th Congress had 4.2 percent of introduced bills enacted into law in the second session. For more information pertaining to DeSantis's voting record in the 113th Congress, please see the below sections.

National security

DHS Appropriations

DeSantis voted in favor of HR 2217 - the DHS Appropriations Act (2014) Act of 2014. The bill passed the House on June 6, 2013, with a vote of 245 - 182 and was largely along party lines.

Keystone Pipeline Amendment

DeSantis voted against House Amendment 69, which would have amended HR 3 to "require that the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, in consultation with the Department of Homeland Security, conduct a study of the vulnerabilities of the Keystone XL pipeline to a terrorist attack and certify that necessary protections have been put in place." The amendment failed on May 22, 2013, with a vote of 176 - 239 and was largely along party lines.

CISPA (2013)

DeSantis voted in opposition to HR 624 - the CISPA (2013). The bill passed the House on April 18, 2013, with a vote of 288 - 127. The bill permitted federal intelligence agencies to share cybersecurity intelligence and information with private entities and utilities. The bill was largely supported by Republicans, but divided the Democratic Party.

NDAA

DeSantis voted in support of HR 1960 - the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2014. The bill passed the House on June 14, 2013, with a vote of 315 - 108. Both parties were somewhat divided on the vote.

Economy

Farm bill

On January 29, 2014, the U.S. House approved the Federal Agriculture Reform and Risk Management Act of 2013, H.R. 2642, also known as the Farm Bill. The bill passed by a vote of 251-166. The nearly 1,000-page bill reformed and continued various programs of the Department of Agriculture through 2018. The $1 trillion bill expanded crop insurance for farmers by $7 billion over the next decade and created new subsidies for rice and peanut growers that would kick in when prices drop. It also cut the food stamp program an average of $90 per month for 1.7 million people in 15 states. DeSantis voted with 62 other Republican representatives against the bill.

2014 Budget

On January 15, 2014, the Republican-run House approved H.R. 3547, a $1.1 trillion spending bill to fund the government through September 30, 2014. The House voted 359-67 for the 1,582 page bill, with 64 Republicans and three Democrats voting against the bill. The omnibus package included 12 annual spending bills to fund federal operations. It included a 1 percent increase in the paychecks of federal workers and military personnel, a $1 billion increase in Head Start funding for early childhood education, reduced funding to the Internal Revenue Service and the Environmental Protection Agency and protected the Affordable Care Act from any drastic cuts. DeSantis joined with the 63 other Republicans and 3 Democrats who voted against the bill.

Government shutdown

See also: United States budget debate, 2013

On September 30, 2013, the House passed a final stopgap spending bill before the shutdown went into effect. The bill included a one-year delay of the Affordable Care Act's individual mandate and would have also stripped the bill of federal subsidies for congressional members and staff. It passed through the House with a vote of 228-201. At 1 a.m. on October 1, 2013, one hour after the shutdown officially began, the House voted to move forward with going to a conference. In short order, Sen. Harry Reid rejected the call to conference. DeSantis voted to approve the stopgap spending bill that would have delayed the individual mandate.

The shutdown ended on October 16, 2013, when the House took a vote on HR 2775 after it was approved by the Senate. The bill to reopen the government lifted the $16.7 trillion debt limit and funded the government through January 15, 2014. Federal employees also received retroactive pay for the shutdown period. The only concession made by Senate Democrats was to require income verification for Obamacare subsidies. The House passed the legislation shortly after the Senate, by a vote of 285-144, with all 144 votes against the legislation coming from Republican members. DeSantis voted against HR 2775.

2013 Farm Bill

See also: United States Farm Bill 2013

In July 2013 the Republican controlled House narrowly passed a scaled-back version of the farm bill after stripping out the popular food-stamp program. The bill passed on a 216-208 vote, with no Democrats voting in favor. All but 12 Republicans supported the measure. The group consisted mostly of conservative lawmakers more concerned about spending than farm subsidies. DeSantis was one of the 12 who voted against the measure.

The farm bill historically has included both billions in farm subsidies and billions in food stamps. Including both of the two massive programs has in the past helped win support from rural-state lawmakers and those representing big cities. After the bill failed in the House in June 2013 amid opposition from rank-and-file Republicans, House leaders removed the food stamp portion in a bid to attract conservative support.

Immigration

Morton Memos Prohibition

DeSantis voted in favor of House Amendment 136 - Prohibits the Enforcement of the Immigration Executive Order. The amendment was adopted by the House on June 6, 2013, with a vote of 224 - 201. The purpose of the amendment as stated on the official text is to "prohibit the use of funds to finalize, implement, administer, or enforce the Morton Memos." These memos would have granted administrative amnesty to certain illegal aliens residing in the United States. The vote largely followed party lines.

Healthcare

Healthcare Reform Rules

DeSantis voted in favor of House Amendment 450 - Requires Congressional Approval for Any Rules Under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. The amendment was adopted by the House on August 2, 2013, with a vote of 227-185. The amendment requires all changes to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act be approved by Congress before taking effect. The vote was largely along party lines.

Keep the IRS Off Your Healthcare Act

DeSantis voted in favor of HR 2009 - Keep the IRS Off Your Healthcare Act of 2013. The bill passed through the House on August 2, 2013, with a vote of 232-185. The bill would prevent the IRS and Treasury Secretary from enforcing the powers provided to them in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. The vote largely followed party lines.

Social issues

Amash amendment

DeSantis voted in favor of House Amendment 413 - Prohibits the National Security Agency from Collecting Records Under the Patriot Act. The amendment failed on July 4, 2013, by a vote of 205-217. The amendment would have prohibited the collection of records by the National Security Agency under the Patriot Act. Both parties were split on the vote.

Government affairs

HR 676

See also: Boehner's lawsuit against the Obama administration

On July 30, 2014, the U.S. House approved a resolution 225 to 201 to sue President Barack Obama for exceeding his constitutional authority. Five Republicans—Thomas Massie of Kentucky, Paul Broun of Georgia, Scott Garrett of New Jersey, Walter Jones of North Carolina and Steve Stockman of Texas—voted with Democrats against the lawsuit. DeSantis joined the other 224 Republicans in favor of the lawsuit. All Democrats voted against the resolution.

Issues

On The Issues Vote Match

DeSantis' Vote Match results from On The Issues.

See also: On The Issues Vote Match

On The Issues conducts a VoteMatch analysis of elected officials based on 20 issue areas. Rather than relying on incumbents to complete the quiz themselves, the VoteMatch analysis is conducted using voting records, statements to the media, debate transcripts or citations from books authored by or about the candidate. Based on the results of the quiz, DeSantis is a Libertarian-Leaning Conservative. DeSantis received a score of 28 percent on social issues and 76 percent on economic issues.

On The Issues organization logo

The table below contains the results of analysis compiled by staff at On The Issues.

On The Issues Vote Quiz
Economic Issues		Social Issues
Issue	Stance	Issue	Stance
Legally require hiring women & minorities	Opposes	Abortion is a woman's unrestricted right	Strongly Opposes
Expand Obamacare	Strongly Opposes	Comfortable with same-sex marriage	Opposes
Vouchers for school choice	Favors	Keep God in the public sphere	Unknown
Absolute right to gun ownership	Strongly Favors	No "rights" to clean air and water	{{{Environment}}}
Higher taxes on the wealthy	Strongly Opposes	Stricter punishment reduces crime	Favors
Support & expand free trade	Unknown	Pathway to citizenship for illegal aliens	Strongly Opposes
More enforcement of the right to vote	Unknown	Maintain U.S. sovereignty from UN	Strongly Favors
Prioritize green energy	Unknown	Expand the military	Favors
Stimulus better than market-led recovery	Neutral	Stay out of Iran	Opposes
Privatize Social Security	Unknown	Never legalize marijuana	Unknown
Note: Information last updated: June 17, 2014. If you notice the rating has changed, email us.

National security

American response in Syria

See also: United States involvement in Syria

After taking part in the questioning of Secretary of State John Kerry in a House committee hearing, DeSantis said he was unconvinced the United States should attack Syria.

“The Obama administration has not articulated a clear objective for using military force in Syria, much less a plan to achieve that objective,” DeSantis said in a statement released September 6, 2013.

Economy

Pay during government shutdown

See also: United States budget debate, 2013

"I don't believe we should be paid until this is resolved and I have requested that my pay be withheld," DeSantis said on Twitter.

Elections

2014

See also: Florida's 6th Congressional District elections, 2014

DeSantis won re-election to the U.S. House in 2014. He ran unopposed for the Republican nomination in the primary election. He then defeated David Cox (D) in the general election on November 4, 2014.

U.S. House, Florida District 6 General Election, 2014

Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Ron DeSantis Incumbent	62.5%	166,254
	Democratic	David Cox	37.5%	99,563
Total Votes				265,817
Source: Florida Division of Elections

Endorsements

• FreedomWorks endorsed DeSantis on March 17, 2014.

2012

See also: Florida's 6th Congressional District elections, 2012

DeSantis ran in the 2012 election for the U.S. House to represent Florida's 6th District. DeSantis won the nomination on the Republican ticket. Candidates wishing to run were required to file by the signature filing deadline of June 8, 2012. The primary elections were held on August 14, 2012. DeSantis won the nomination in the Republican primary on August 14, 2012. He won the election on November 6, 2012.

U.S. House, Florida District 6 General Election, 2012

Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Ron DeSantis	57.2%	195,962
	Democratic	Heather Beaven	42.8%	146,489
Total Votes				342,451
Source: Florida Secretary of State "Official Election Results, 2012 General Election"

U.S. House, Florida District 6 Republican Primary, 2012

Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Ron Desantis	38.8%	24,132
Fred Costello	22.8%	14,189
Beverly Slough	13.2%	8,229
Craig Miller	13.1%	8,113
Richard Clark	9.8%	6,090
Alec Pueschal	1.2%	739
William Billy Kogut	1%	628
Total Votes		62,120

Endorsements

DeSantis received the backing of the Club for Growth on June 26, 2012.

Campaign donors

Fundraising events

The below chart from Find The Best tracks the fundraising events DeSantis attends.

Comprehensive donor history

---

The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may not represent all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer, and campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.

---

Ron DeSantis campaign contribution history
Year	Office	Result	Contributions
2014	U.S. House (Florida, District 6)		$1,110,622
2012	U.S. House (Florida, District 6)		$1,145,859
Grand total raised			$2,256,481
Source: [ Follow the Money]

2014

Candidates for Congress were required to file up to seven main reports with the Federal Election Commission during the 2014 elections season. Below are DeSantis' reports.

Ron DeSantis (2014) Campaign Finance Reports
Report	Date Filed	Beginning Balance	Total Contributions for Reporting Period	Expenditures	Cash on Hand
April Quarterly	April 15, 2013	$2,411.69	$243,771.24	$(26,328.14)	$246,259
July Quarterly	July 15, 2013	$246,259	$148,250	$(57,158.42)	$337,351
October Quarterly	October 13, 2013	$337,351	$104,439.00	$(33,187.68)	$408,602
Year-end	January 27, 2014	$408,602	$132,260	$(28,143)	$512,719
April Quarterly	April 15, 2014	$512,719	$193,295	$(53,341)	$652,673
July Quarterly	July 15, 2014	$652,673	$146,696	$(56,090)	$743,279
Pre-Primary	August 14, 2014	$74,279	$17,525	$(24,168)	$736,636
October Quarterly	October 15, 2014	$736,636	$85,735	$(30,911)	$791,460
			Running totals
			$1,071,971.24	$(309,327.24)

2012

DeSantis won election to the U.S. House in 2012. During that election cycle, DeSantis's campaign committee raised a total of $1,145,859 and spent $1,122,042. This is less than the average $1.5 million spent by House winners in 2012.

Cost per vote

DeSantis spent $5.73 per vote received in 2012.

U.S. House, Florida District 6, 2012 - Ron DeSantis Campaign Contributions
Total Raised	$1,145,859
Total Spent	$1,122,042
Total Raised by Election Runner-up	$281,009
Total Spent by Election Runner-up	$258,207
Top contributors to Ron DeSantis's campaign committee
Demetree Brothers	$17,500
Arizona Diamondbacks	$15,000
Mac Papers	$12,500
Holland & Knight	$12,400
Fletcher Management	$11,000
Top 5 industries that contributed to campaign committee
Retired	$145,158
Republican/Conservative	$74,511
Real Estate	$66,505
Lawyers/Law Firms	$55,250
Health Professionals	$48,400

To view the breakdown of campaign funding by type click [show] to expand the section.
Breakdown of the source of DeSantis' campaign funds before the 2012 election.

Personal Gain Index

See also: Personal Gain Index (U.S. Congress)

The Personal Gain Index (U.S. Congress) is a two-part measurement that illustrates the extent to which members of the U.S. Congress have prospered during their tenure as public servants.
It consists of two different metrics:

• Changes in Net Worth
• The Donation Concentration Metric

PGI: Change in net worth

See also: Changes in Net Worth of U.S. Senators and Representatives (Personal Gain Index) and Net worth of United States Senators and Representatives

Based on congressional financial disclosure forms and calculations made available by OpenSecrets.org, DeSantis's net worth as of 2012 was estimated between $-63,998 and $-9,001. That averages to $-36,499.50, which is lower than the average net worth of Republican representatives in 2012 of $6,956,438.47. DeSantis ranked as the 428th most wealthy representative in 2012. Between 2011 and 2012, DeSantis' calculated net worth decreased by an average of 214 percent per year. Between 2004 and 2012, the average annual percentage increase for a member of Congress was 15.4 percent.

Ron DeSantis Yearly Net Worth
Year	Average Net Worth
2011	$32,155
2012	$−36,499.50
Growth from 2011 to 2012:	−214%
Average annual growth:	−214%
Comparatively, the American citizen experienced a median yearly decline in net worth of -0.94%.

The data used to calculate changes in net worth may include changes resulting from assets gained through marriage, inheritance, changes in family estates and/or trusts, changes in family business ownership, and many other variables unrelated to a member's behavior in Congress.

PGI: Donation Concentration Metric

See also: The Donation Concentration Metric (U.S. Congress Personal Gain Index)

Filings required by the Federal Election Commission report on the industries that give to each candidate. Using campaign filings and information calculated by OpenSecrets.org, Ballotpedia calculated the percentage of donations by industry received by each incumbent over the course of his or her career (or 1989 and later, if elected prior to 1988). DeSantis received the most donations from individuals and PACs employed by the Retired industry.

From 2011-2014, 30.8 percent of DeSantis' career contributions came from the top five industries as listed below.

Ron DeSantis Campaign Contributions
Total Raised	$2,131,596
Total Spent	$1,399,959
Top five industries that contributed to campaign committee
Retired	$240,833
Real Estate	$114,605
Insurance	$110,200
Lawyers/Law Firms	$96,252
Health Professionals	$94,700
% total in top industry	11.3%
% total in top two industries	16.67%
% total in top five industries	30.8%

Analysis

Ideology and leadership

See also: GovTrack's Political Spectrum & Legislative Leadership ranking

Based on an analysis of bill sponsorship by GovTrack, DeSantis was a "rank-and-file Republican" as of July 23, 2014. DeSantis was rated as a "centrist Republican" in June 2013.

Like-minded colleagues

The website OpenCongress tracks the voting records of each member to determine with whom he or she votes most and least often. The results include a member from each party.

DeSantis most often votes with:

• John Fleming
• Jim Matheson

DeSantis least often votes with:

• Chris Gibson
• Mark Pocan

Lifetime voting record

See also: Lifetime voting records of United States Senators and Representatives

According to the website GovTrack, DeSantis missed 0 of 89 roll call votes from January 2013 to August 2014. This amounts to 0.0 percent, which is better than the median of 2.5 percent among current congressional representatives as of August 2014.

National Journal vote ratings

See also: National Journal vote ratings

Each year National Journal publishes an analysis of how liberally or conservatively each member of Congress voted in the previous year.

2013

DeSantis ranked 57th in the conservative rankings in 2013.

2012

Information on 2012 vote rating is unavailable.

Voting with party

The website OpenCongress tracks how often members of Congress vote with the majority of the chamber caucus.

2014

DeSantis voted with the Republican Party 94.2 percent of the time, which ranked 118th among the 234 House Republican members as of July 2014.

2013

DeSantis voted with the Republican Party 95.1 percent of the time, which ranked 174th among the 233 House Republican members as of June 2013.

Recent news

This section displays the most recent stories in a Google news search for the term Ron + DeSantis + Florida + House

All stories may not be relevant to this page due to the nature of the search engine.

Ron DeSantis News Feed

See also

• Florida
• United States congressional delegations from Florida
• United States House of Representatives
• Florida's 6th Congressional District

External links

Suggest a link

 

• Campaign Website
• U.S. House website

• Social media:
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
• Biographies:
  • U.S. Congress
  • Wikipedia
• Political profiles:
  • GovTrack
  • CongressMerge
  • OpenCongress
  • Project Vote Smart
  • Roll Call
• Financial (federal level):
  • OpenSecrets.org
• Interest group ratings:
  • Project Vote Smart
• Issue positions:
  • On The Issues
  • Project Vote Smart
• Legislation:
  • Congress.gov
• Public statements:
  • Project Vote Smart
• Voting record:
  • Project Vote Smart
  • Washington Post
• Media coverage:
  • Washington Post

References

Political offices
Preceded by Cliff Stearns (R)	U.S. House of Representatives - Florida District 6 2013-present	Succeeded by -

[show]

Florida's current delegation to the United States Congress

Senators

Ashley Moody (R)

Rick Scott (R)

Representatives

District 1

Jimmy Patronis (R)

District 2

Neal Dunn (R)

District 3

Kat Cammack (R)

District 4

Aaron Bean (R)

District 5

John Rutherford (R)

District 6

Randy Fine (R)

District 7

Cory Mills (R)

District 8

Mike Haridopolos (R)

District 9

Darren Soto (D)

District 10

Maxwell Frost (D)

District 11

Daniel Webster (R)

District 12

Gus Bilirakis (R)

District 13

Anna Luna (R)

District 14

Kathy Castor (D)

District 15

Laurel Lee (R)

District 16

Vern Buchanan (R)

District 17

Greg Steube (R)

District 18

Scott Franklin (R)

District 19

Byron Donalds (R)

District 20

Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick (D)

District 21

Brian Mast (R)

District 22

Lois Frankel (D)

District 23

Jared Moskowitz (D)

District 24

Frederica Wilson (D)

District 25

Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D)

District 26

Mario Diaz-Balart (R)

District 27

Maria Elvira Salazar (R)

District 28

Carlos Gimenez (R)

Republican Party (22)

Democratic Party (8)