Ron DeSantis’ response to Hurricane Helene could define his future

MIAMI — Gov. Ron DeSantis has effectively inserted himself into some of the most high-profile fights in the nation, from Covid to immigration.

But the latest battle he faces that has thrust Florida into the national spotlight is something he didn’t choose: Hurricane Helene’s wreckage . So far, at least eleven people in Florida died, DeSantis said Saturday morning, and the storm’s sheer size brought massive destruction to Florida’s Gulf coast and to the Big Bend region which already got battered twice in the last year.

While it is very early in the state’s recovery, which will take weeks or even months, the hours and days after the storm has passed are critical. Rescuers are rushing to reach those who may be stranded, and first responders and line workers race to clear roads and restore power for the hundreds of thousands still in the dark.

On top of the humanitarian toll, storm response can make — or break — the legacy of Florida chief executives. Helene isn’t the most destructive or deadly hurricane DeSantis has responded to as governor, but it’s the largest since he dropped out of the presidential race. And it comes as the term-limited DeSantis enters the final two years of office, with some signs that his influence has already slipped in the state .

“Responding effectively to a natural disaster will certainly increase the governor’s popularity and favorability ratings, which translates into political capital — which can be spent in the future if needed,” said Justin Sayfie, a partner at Ballard Partners who was a policy adviser to former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush. DeSantis himself isn’t on the ballot this November, but his response to the storm could still affect how the public views him — and stall or fuel his agenda during his last two years as governor and beyond. An effective response would allow him to show donors and voters how he can lead, and how he can balance priorities and show empathy in moments of tragedy. It could become a story of success or failure, especially if he runs for president in the future, which he hasn’t ruled out.

DeSantis has blanketed the state, both before the storm hit and soon after the hurricane left the state. On Thursday, the day the storm made landfall, he appeared on “Fox and Friends,” both Sean Hannity’s radio and primetime Fox News shows and the Weather Channel. He addressed reporters from Tallahassee as the storm was making landfall late at night on Thursday, and toured damage sites at Perry, St. Pete Beach and Cedar Key on Friday.

Former North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory said he thought DeSantis had good “instincts” for crisis management and said communicating during a natural disaster was hugely important, while “miscommunication is the biggest danger that can have long-term political ramifications.”

“If you make the wrong call,” he added, “you pay for it politically.”

McCrory had to contend with the response to Hurricane Matthew just weeks before Election Day in 2016. Though he lost his reelection, he fell short just narrowly, by far less than the polls had predicted, in what many attributed to his response to the storm. Showing empathy and action are key qualities for leadership during a disaster, he said.

“If any politicians are thinking about politics during a crisis, they're going to fail, and I mean that seriously,” he said.

DeSantis reaped the political benefits after his response to Hurricane Ian, which tore through Gulf communities roughly six weeks ahead of his 19-point reelection victory in 2022. Though the storm caused billions of dollars in damage and killed 140 Floridians — and the governor was forced to defend late local evacuation orders in certain areas — he also benefited from saturated coverage that showed his command of state bureaucracy and how he could calmly and clearly deliver updates about the response.

Following Ian, DeSantis surveyed the devastation alongside Florida first lady Casey DeSantis, President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden, in a show of bipartisan unity that ditched, at least temporarily, the partisan pugilistic nature that had rocketed him to fame. When he did return to the campaign trail and often after, he talked about how he got the causeway to Sanibel Island repaired ahead of schedule.

During the 2024 presidential primary, DeSantis again left the campaign trail at a critical time and canceled donor events, this time to respond to Hurricane Idalia. But he did not appear alongside Biden because he said the security preparations would be too disruptive to the recovery efforts.

Even after his failed presidential bid, DeSantis has looked to reinsert himself into the national narrative. He took a hard line on pro-Palestine campus protests — which did not break out to any significant degree in the state — and opened a state investigation into the apparent assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump.

Regardless of other issues Florida faces, however, hurricanes batter the state so frequently that they often define and shape the governors who oversee their preparation and response. Asked on Friday morning to reflect on the differences between this hurricane response and others he presided over, the governor said responders were able to get into the storm to help rescue people faster.

“While many people across the country were sound asleep,” he said, “you had these folks that were putting themselves on the line and helping their fellow Floridians.”

Other prominent politicians are already using Hurricane Helene to criticize each other, even if DeSantis has not waded in. Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign clipped a video on Friday of Ken Cuccinelli — a former senior Trump DHS official and Project 2025 contributor, a favorite punching bag of the campaign — talking about shrinking FEMA , the agency responsible for the federal response to disasters like hurricanes, warning that “their plan is to cut assistance for hurricane victims.”

And Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.), who has been very involved in hurricane response, on Fox News’ “The Faulkner Focus” on Friday attacked Harris for being at the U.S.-Mexico border for a campaign event rather than coming to Florida to ensure the state had the federal resources it needed. (Trump, a Florida resident, was at a campaign event in Michigan on Friday.)

“All she wants to do is win an election,” Scott said. “She doesn’t care about American citizens.”

Gary Fineout contributed to this report.