Florida Republican gubernatorial candidate Ron DeSantis will be the guest speaker at Monday night’s Villagers for Trump meeting.
DeSantis is running against state Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam, who was in The Villages on July 18 for a candidate forum put on by The Villages Republican Club.
That same day, DeSantis, who has been endorsed by President Trump, appeared at an Orlando event with Donald Trump Jr. The congressman had offered to bring Trump Jr. to The Villages instead of the Orlando venue but the offer was turned down, according to his press secretary, David Vasquez.
“We were offered a debate/forum on that date at The Villages, to which we responded that the Republican Party of Florida sanctions all debates and that we were unavailable because we were planning an event with the president’s son,” Vasquez said earlier this month. “The real story here is that The Villages turned down an event with the president’s son.”
That, however, didn’t stop Villagers from seeing Trump Jr., as the DeSantis camp offered Villagers for Trump free transportation and tickets for the Orlando event, which was held at BB Kings Blues Club on International Drive.
Like Putnam, DeSantis is no stranger to The Villages, having been here in September 2016 with Vice President Mike Pence. That same year, he also shared the stage with Congressman Trey Gowdy, chairman of the U.S. House Select Committee on Benghazi. At the time, DeSantis was a candidate for U.S. Senate, but gave up his bid when U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio opted to seek a second term.
DeSantis is a native Floridian, having grown up in Dunedin. He graduated magna cum laude from Yale University and with honors from Harvard Law School before serving in the Navy. He also served as both a federal and military prosecutor before joining Congress in 2013. DeSantis and his wife, Casey, an Emmy award-winning television host, have two children.
Monday’s Villagers for Trump meeting also will feature U.S. Congressman Daniel Webster, who will discuss the deep state within and attacks on President Trump, as well as Florida House District 33 candidate Brett Hage and Agriculture Commissioner hopeful Mike McCalister.
Hage, a seventh-generation Floridian, is the president of T&D Distribution Inc. and also serves as president of the Sumter County Chamber of Commerce. He is the former chairman of the Sumter County Industrial Development Authority and former vice chairman of the Sumter Zoning & Adjustment Board and Volunteer of the Year for the Florida Economic Development Council’s East Central Region.
McCalister is a retired Army colonel, businessman and university instructor. He is a member of the Florida Nursery Growers & Landscape Association, the National Rifle Association, the Military Officers Association of America and the American Legion. He served in the Army Reserves, Army National Guard and on active duty for 33 years, retiring in 2005. He also is a licensed and degreed agriculture professional and owner/operator of a small tree farm.
Both Hage and McCalister will participate in a fireside chat and have an opportunity to present their views on pertinent issues, followed by a question-and-answer session.
Villagers for Trump represents Lake, Marion and Sumter counties. Doors open for Monday’s meeting, which will be held at Laurel Manor Recreation Center, at 6:30 p.m., with the event starting 30 minutes later. The meeting is open to the public.