Being a strong-willed executive has been a core part of Gov. Ron DeSantis’ personal brand ever since the COVID-19 pandemic shot him into national Republican political stardom.
“A governor who is right on the issues, but who lacks the courage to lead, will be an inadequate chief executive,” he wrote back in 2023 in his autobiography published before he ran for President.
But entering his final legislative session, critics of the governor are saying his power to turn his leadership into unchallenged policy wins is the most diminished it has been since he was first elected.
“This governor is a lame duck,” said Florida Democratic House Leader Fentrice Driskell at a recent press availability.
She believes after failing in his presidential bid in 2024 and entering his final year, DeSantis is no longer the political force that commanded all aspects of Florida government from 2021 to 2024.
Driskell pointed to his ongoing beef with Florida House Speaker Daniel Perez, which has spilled into disagreements on how to handle several of his marque priorities this year, including property tax changes and congressional redistricting.
“The sad thing about that is, when they're fighting, it's the people of Florida who lose, because we focus on these political stunts like redistricting, rather than focus on focusing on the affordability issues like lowering property insurance and making sure people can find affordable housing,” she said.
Going into the 2026 session, some Republican lawmakers that have frequently criticized DeSantis, like Pensacola Representative Alex Andrade, say DeSantis has been ineffective as the state’s top administrator due to political loyalty appointments.
“The trend over his time in office, over the eight years he's been governor, his staff has been getting younger and younger and younger and less experienced, and it seems like his one hiring metric is just kind of loyalty to him. It's not competence,” he said.
Despite the criticism, Florida’s governor’s office innately holds significant power that still is relevant in an officeholder’s final term. He has line-item veto over the state’s budget, meaning he can draw a red line through any local project. He also can veto any bill. This gives the governor significant leverage over lawmakers in negotiations, since any of the projects they want to pass could be on the chopping block at his whim.
But waiting one year of blocked projects is less of an imposing tool for DeSantis to wield as it was in the middle of his governorship, said Susan MacManus, a political science professor at the University of South Florida.
“During the last year of a governor's tenure, you have legislators who are no longer feeling that they have to step in line with the governor. They become more independent-minded, particularly those that have decided not to run, or those who have decided to run for some other position and not run for their reelection in the legislature,” MacManus said.
She thinks several issues give DeSantis more leverage. First, he remains largely popular amongst Florida voters, with recent polling giving him higher approval amongst state resident than President Donald Trump currently has.
“One would have expected that DeSantis is favorability would have dipped a lot more than it has in light of what's happened to governors across the country,” MacManus said.
Additionally, DeSantis is a key cog in several issues that could be important to Florida voters ahead of the midterm elections. MacManus also thinks DeSantis is motivated to stay relevant to a national audience to keep a potential 2028 bid alive. Therefore, it’s important for him to be viewed as charting the course on things of interest to Republicans nationally, like the redistricting outcome in the state and whether the state enacts artificial intelligence protections.
“That is something that's going to be different, is the power of national issues on decision making and strategies employed by both the Governor and the Legislature,” she said.
It’s likely DeSantis’ final session will also be one of his longest. He’s already called for one special session for redistricting. There’s been talks about one being called to draft the language for the property tax ballot initiative. And if budget talks go like they went last year, then that’s a third significant issue that would keep lawmakers in Tallahassee long past March.
DeSantis’ final year is set to be a busy one.