Ron DeSantis Born in Jacksonville

Summary

Ronald Dion DeSantis was born on September 14, 1978, in Jacksonville, Florida. He grew up in Dunedin and attended Yale University before earning a law degree from Harvard. DeSantis entered the U.S. Navy Judge Advocate General's Corps and served in assignments that included support for operations in Iraq. He later worked as a federal prosecutor and won election to the U.S. House of Representatives from Florida in 2012. DeSantis resigned from Congress during his successful 2018 campaign for governor and took office in January 2019. As governor, he became a nationally prominent Republican figure through policies and disputes involving education, immigration, public health, abortion, state authority, corporations, and cultural issues. DeSantis sought the Republican presidential nomination in the 2024 election cycle before ending his campaign and supporting Donald Trump. He remained governor of Florida in 2026.