Now that DeSantis is out of the race, Floridians are wondering: How will he govern next?

Forgive Florida voters for feeling a little whiplash.

Gov. Ron DeSantis seemed unstoppable at the end of 2022. He had just won reelection, beating his opponent by nearly 20 percentage points in a victory largely attributed to voters rewarding him for his handling of the coronavirus pandemic.

But this week he exited the Republican presidential race after a single contest in Iowa, where he suffered a blow of his own, losing to former President Donald J. Trump by about 30 points.

It was a remarkable outburst for a man who has pushed the limits of his executive power to transform Florida into a cradle of right-wing policies, drawing strong opinions everywhere.

“I thought he was going to go all the way,” said Taylor Brame, 24, who moved to Florida in part because she was a fan of Mr. DeSantis’ minimal restrictions during the pandemic.

She moved from Seattle two and a half years ago because Florida was “open for business,” she recalled Monday at a park across the Gulf of Mexico in Dunedin, Mr. DeSantis' hometown near Tampa.

“I moved across the country for him,” said Ms. Brame, a registered Republican. “I'm a little sad that he's retired.”

Outside a pizzeria on Main Street, Paul Starrett, 69, wore a red Trump hat and expressed enthusiasm for Mr. DeSantis' leadership.

“I don't think it's Ron's time yet,” Mr. Starrett said. “He's such a great governor, in my opinion, that I wouldn't want to see him leave just yet.”

Although Mr. DeSantis has spent much of the past year traveling and campaigning outside the state, his sweeping policies have touched many corners of Floridians' lives, causing supporters to welcome his return to day-to-day government and critics to worry made on what issues the term-limited governor could address in his final three years.

“He's the kind of politician who stands up for himself — he doesn't listen to us,” said Jamie Maniscalco, 33, a registered Democrat who moved to Hollywood, Florida, near Fort Lauderdale, from Virginia in 2019. books, that's what they are ban dictionaries at school, and now his Republicans in the House of Representatives and the Senate are trying to ban abortion care entirely.”

Ms. Maniscalco helped gather signatures for a ballot measure that would again allow abortions up to 24 weeks' gestation in the state, she said. Mr. DeSantis signed legislation banning abortion after 15 weeks and then after 6 weeks. (The six-week ban is not yet in effect.)

“I can't be a Floridian much longer,” Ms. Maniscalco said. “I'm engaged and thinking about having children, but it won't be in this state.”

She and others, including some voters who support the governor, said Florida had become too expensive because housing and food prices, rents and property insurance had all risen during Mr. DeSantis' term. Last fall, several Florida cities had some of the highest inflation rates in the country.

John Scovill, 56, a chef who has lived in Dunedin since 1990, ruefully pointed to something Mr. DeSantis bragged about during his campaign: the influx of residents from other states during the pandemic.

“He flooded people into Florida, raising our rent, raising food and inflating property values,” said Mr. Scovill, an unaffiliated voter. “It makes it harder for people to live here now.”

His rent in downtown Dunedin, a once sleepy town now bustling this time of year with part-time residents known as snowbirds, used to be $950 a month. He moved and the same unit now rents for $1,800, he said.

Rick Reikenis, a 71-year-old engineer and registered Democrat who works in West Palm Beach, said Mr. DeSantis had ignored important issues in Florida and instead done things intended to help his presidential campaign, such as flying in migrants to Martha's Vineyard from Texas. creating an office to investigate alleged election crimes and signing anti-LGBTQ legislation.

“Much more attention should have been paid to the insurance crisis than to the presidential bid,” Mr. Reikenis said.

“Ron DeSantis won by a wide margin,” he added, referring to the 2022 gubernatorial race, “but I don't think he's popular.”

Polls in Florida have shown that Mr. DeSantis' approval has fallen since he entered the presidential race last spring.

Still, Steve McGuire, 44, a registered Republican in Naples, said he hoped Mr. DeSantis would stick to the policies that make the state so attractive to him: the lack of a state income tax, the taxpayer-funded school voucher programs that allow his wife, Jennifer, to homeschool their two teenage children, and policies they say give Floridians more freedom than people living elsewhere.

“I would have been proud to have him as president,” Jennifer McGuire, 41, said of Mr. DeSantis. “But we're happy he's here.”

At East Naples Community Park — home of the U.S. Open Pickleball Championships — Clare Schroeder, 70, an unaffiliated voter, called Mr. DeSantis' election “ego-driven and a long shot at best.”

He passed laws to endear himself to right-wing voters at the expense of Florida residents, she said, citing legislation that led to a book ban in public schools. “We are causing a greater level of ignorance among children than ever before,” she said.

Ms. Schroeder said she hoped Mr. DeSantis would recognize that his approach was not working and move closer to the middle of the political spectrum.

“I'm not asking him to become Gavin Newsom,” she said, referring to California's Democratic governor. “I ask him to be more in line with more people's beliefs.”

Reporting was contributed by Valerie Crowder from Tallahassee, Nichole Manna from jacksonville, Jane Musgrave of West Palm Beach, and Veronica Zaragovia from Miami Beach and Doral, Florida. Kitty Bennett research contributed.