Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis formally launched his presidential marketing campaign Wednesday, placing his mix of pro-business conservativism and culture-war populism to the take a look at on the nationwide degree.

DeSantis, 44, filed marketing campaign paperwork and is ready to announce his bid for the Republican presidential nomination on Twitter, throughout a reside dialog with Elon Musk that’s set for six p.m. ET. The announcement will cement DeSantis as the highest Republican rival to former President Donald Trump, who has held a constant polling lead over the first subject.

DeSantis labored to ascertain himself as a champion of financial progress even earlier than he pushed to shortly carry Covid lockdown insurance policies within the title of revitalizing Florida’s ailing companies. He has since taken credit score for the state’s low unemployment price, its inhabitants progress and its financial system outpacing the nationwide common.

On the identical time, he has plunged into political battle with a few of his state’s high employers — most notably Disney — and signed laws concentrating on personal enterprise practices, a few of which has since been blocked within the courts.