Gov. Ron DeSantis on Tuesday opened up Florida’s annual session with a stripped-down State of the State speech that was one-part presidential campaign messaging and a recitation of some of his signature policies over the last several years.
DeSantis, who returned to Tallahassee from the campaign trail just days before the Iowa caucuses, gave his annual address even as severe weather bore down on Florida’s Panhandle. A tornado warning sounded loudly on lawmakers’ phones a little more than a half-hour before the Republican governor began his speech and every state government building — except the Capitol — was closed due to the storm threat.
