KSL AT NIGHT
Gov. Ron DeSantis will be keynote speaker at GOP convention next month
Mar 28, 2023, 9:30 PM
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis answers questions from the media in the Florida Cabinet following his State of the State address during a joint session of the Senate and House of Representatives Tuesday, March 7, 2023, at the Capitol in Tallahassee, Fla. DeSanits will be the keynote speaker at the Utah GOP convention next month at Utah Valley University. (AP Photo/Phil Sears)
Credit: ASSOCIATED PRESS
(AP Photo/Phil Sears)
LSALT LAKE CITY — The Utah Republican Party has announced that Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis will be the keynote speaker at its state convention next month.
State Republican chairman Carson Jorgensen joined KSL at Night with hosts Leah Murray and Derek Brown to discuss the governor’s visit to the state.
“He is gonna come see us,” Jorgensen said. “I’ve been working on this for quite some time now, and I’ve been clear to everybody. This is Governor Ron DeSantis. This isn’t presidential hopeful Ron DeSantis. This has nothing to do with Trump or DeSantis or anything like that.”
Why Utah for Gov. DeSantis?
Murray asked, “What makes coming to Utah, something that Governor DeSantis would want to do?”
“I think he just likes to get out and share the message,” Jorgensen said. “And they’ve done such a phenomenal job with Republican policies in the state of Florida. And we’ve all seen what he’s done from winning an election by a narrow margin to blowing it out by almost 20 points in a state that was considered purple a couple of years ago.”
Brown asked what it meant to have Gov. DeSantis come to the state from a fundraising perspective?
“It’s a good thing anytime you can bring credibility to the party like that,” Jorgensen said. “To give enough credence to the party that someone nationally will show up like that, people take notice. And people want to be there to see him.”
No complaints as of yet
Murray asked, “Have you received any complaints from delegates for this being your headline?”
“I haven’t actually,” Jorgensen said. “And I think this is part and parcel to the whole thing. And I believe this is where we need to stay as a party.”
Additionally, he says that having too many good Republican candidates is never a problem.
“Let’s let the cream rise to the top,” he said. “Because the cream always does rise to the top.”
The Utah Republican Convention is scheduled for April 22 at Utah Valley University.
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Read more: Three Utah senators encourage Gov. DeSantis to run for president
