First Lady of Florida and second in command

At a recent performance in South Carolina, after Ron DeSantis played off his state’s economic and education policies and put down a litany of ideological opponents, his wife snuggled into an armchair next to him onstage to reflect on her role as the first Lady of Florida.

“I didn’t want to be that proverbial pot plant,” said Casey DeSantis.

No one – fan, skeptic or critic – would accuse her of that.

Ms. DeSantis, 42, is widely regarded as perhaps Mr. DeSantis’ most important adviser. At the governor’s mansion, she advised on media strategy and assisted veterinary staff. She has told some of his more attracting attention ads and took on broad projects on things like mental healthdisaster relief and cancer, survive a fight yourself with it.

With Mr. DeSantis entering the presidential contest, people who know Ms. DeSantis or who have encountered her on the burgeoning campaign trail expect her to play a vital role in his most important race to date, trying to shape perceptions of the campaign. to give. building relationships with party stakeholders and highlighting the personal side of her tough husband, who sometimes struggles to connect.

“You have the first ladies who are a little bit more in a supportive attitude, it’s not the ones who are obtuse,” said Steven Wright, the Republican chairman in Dorchester County, SC, who met Ms. DeSantis during the couple’s swing. the area. “And then you have the first ladies who look like Casey DeSantis.”

She has for the past few weeks poured over Iowa’s gas station pizza And emphasized her personal connections to South Carolina, the first primary state in the South (she attended the College of Charleston, where she competed on the equestrian team).

She has met with local Republican officials and offered a glimpse into family life as a mother of three. When Mr. DeSantis spoke at a Republican dinner in Ohio last month, Ms. DeSantis said also went on a tripswinging through her residence, Troy, Ohiowhere the family met the mayor.

“She shows the governor’s human side and his personal side,” said Mr. Wright.

And she and Mr. DeSantis recently hosted Bob Vander Place, an influential social conservative from Iowa, for lunch at the governor’s mansion.

“They could free her up to single-handedly represent the governor at several campaign stops where he can’t be present,” citing her “ability to be very poised in front of a crowd.” He remembered them eating spring salad with arugula, prosciutto-wrapped scallops with green beans, and strawberry fruit salad dessert.

Mr. DeSantis met Jill Casey Black, a local news reporter at the time, at a Florida driving range complex, he wrote in his recent book “The Courage to Be Free.” They were married at Walt Disney World, years before Mr. DeSantis went to war with Disney. (“Casey’s family was what might be called a family of Disney enthusiasts,” he wrote.)

Casey DeSantis built a career as one television personality in Florida, though that background hasn’t stopped her from repeating Mr. DeSantis in berating thewoke up corporate media.”

“She’s very aware of public events, the news cycle, optics,” said Stephen Lawson, who was Mr. DeSantis’s spokesperson during his 2018 race for governor. “So much of who he is and where he’s from and his story revolves around her, and I think she will continue to play a central role in how that story unfolds.”

“She is his main sounding board,” he added.

In that 2018 contest, she told an ad that highlighted Mr. DeSantis’ allegiance to President Donald J. Trump by showing him encouraging his young child to “build the wall” out of blocks.

Last year she took one emotional direct-to-camera mockeryher voice wavered as she described how her husband had helped her through cancer.

She also promoted a video due to which his political rise was regarded as divinely inspired.

Mrs. DeSantis also has has been linked to political drama, and some have questioned the scope of her portfolio in office, wondering if she doesn’t have too much influence within the governor’s insular inner circle.

“She assumes authority she doesn’t have,” said Mac Stipanovich, a Republicanbecome independent who served as a longtime Florida strategist and lobbyist, though he said he was sharing his impressions rather than first-hand knowledge. “Where did this woman’s strategic political genius come from?”

“People always wondered, who is the person closest to Ron, who is someone who can get his ear?” added Nikki Fried, now the chairman of the Florida Democratic Party and a former Agriculture Commissioner who unsuccessfully ran for governor in the Democratic primary last year. The only name that ever came back, she said, was Casey’s.

Lindsey Curnutte, a spokeswoman for the DeSantis team, did not respond to a request for comment.

But Rep. Jared Moskowitz, a Florida Democrat who worked with the DeSantises as Florida emergency management director, said he found Ms. DeSantis to be receptive to ideas and whose “door was always open.”

“The first lady, who has a significant background in communications, walks into a room and really just engages,” said Mr. Moskowitz, who supports President Biden’s re-election bid.

There is a long history of politicians dealing with the complexities of family involvement in their campaigns or administrations, including Bill and Hillary Clinton and Vice President Kamala Harris, whose sister was a key adviser during her presidential primaries.

In New York City, Chirlane McCray was her husband Bill de Blasio’s closest adviser when he ran for mayor and then during his time at City Hall, an arrangement that sometimes stoked controversy.

In an interview, Mr. de Blasio – a Democrat who Mr. Biden “energetically” supports the art of the political power couple saying that “if it feels natural, it’s kind of irreplaceable.”

“You need someone who understands your goals, your motivations, what you can handle and what you can’t, all of that, and it all adds up to a husband under good circumstances,” Mr. de Blasio said.

But he acknowledged that, depending on the couple, spousal advisers can also be “too close to the situation.”

“There’s a huge tradition of husbands being very protective and defensive of their loved one in office,” he said. “Sometimes that can lead to blindness or some kind of knee-jerk response, or a sense of revenge that isn’t always productive.”

“It could be a beautiful model, it could be a powerful model,” he added, “or it could really backfire.”

Nicholas Nehamas reporting contributed. Kirsten Noyes contributed research.