Casey DeSantis' friends and colleagues reveal ALL about the marriage with Ron they didn't think would 'work', how the Congressional shooting brought her closer to him - and how SHE is the key in 2024
- Casey DeSantis, 42, expected to play major role in Ron's presidential campaign
- A near-fatal shooting at a congressional baseball practice was a turning point
- Admirers say she has the personal charm he lacks on the campaign trail
Florida's First Lady Casey DeSantis is on the charm offensive and her personal charisma is seen as a necessary balance to Ron DeSantis' lackluster personality as he inches toward a presidential run.
While the governor of the Sunshine State has yet to formally announce a bid for the White House next year, both Casey's admirers - and detractors - say she's the one to watch.
But she wasn't always convinced politics was her path and some of her friends revealed to DailyMail.com they had doubts the marriage would work. It would take the fear of losing her husband for Casey to leave her career as an Emmy-winning journalist and transform into a public wife.
She threw herself into the part.
Democrats and Republicans alike describe her ability to charm a room - a necessary campaign chops that his critics say he lacks.
'When she comes into a room, people really gravitate towards her,' Florida Democratic Rep. Jared Moskowitz told Dailymail.com. He worked with the couple when he served as director of emergency services in Florida, becoming close to them as they served the state in the aftermath of Hurricane Michael.
![Casey DeSantis with Ron DeSantis on the night he first became governor in 2018](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/04/07/13/69564709-11920875-Casey_DeSantis_with_Ron_DeSantis_on_the_night_he_first_became_go-a-3_1680871022003.jpg)
Casey DeSantis with Ron DeSantis on the night he first became governor in 2018
Because for all his intelligence and political savvy, there have been grumblings about Ron DeSantis' lack of charm, the stiffness that comes across on stage, his awkwardness around people, and his impatience with the glad-handling and hand-shaking that is required in retail politics.
Casey, however, is described as warm and open. She is at ease both in front of the camera and in person. In her public remarks she chatters as if she knows everyone in the room personally, effortlessly comfortable in her public speaking.
'When we walked into a room I mean, she knew how to work that room. She made sure she talked to everybody. She made sure she gave them time, to make sure that she listened. She takes notes,' Rep. Moskowitz said. 'She really knows how to light up a room.'
He noted her thoughtfulness: she checked in with him when his father was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 2020 and then later when his father died in January 2022. He publicly supported her during her own battle with breast cancer.
In fact, some of her friends, who knew the couple when they first married, even doubted the relationship would last. The feeling was Casey was too good for him. She was a local television anchor seen as a news rising star. He was fresh out of the Navy and working at a law firm while pondering his political future.
'There were people there that didn't think it would work - that didn't think it was a good match,' a guest at their wedding told DailyMail.com.
Their marriage is going on 14 years and they have proven to be a power couple in the Republican Party. But the questions remains if her dazzle is enough to outshine his gruffness.
In public, Casey, 42, often works her personal life into her official remarks, making the connection her husband struggles to build.
'I'm a mom – 6, 4, 2,' she said at an event in Florida at the end of March, outlining her kids age.
And she added, as her audience laughed: 'It's kind of hard to get out of the house this morning but at least I'm wearing the same shoes.'
![Casey DeSantis with her children Madison and Mason - she often talks about being a mom](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/04/07/13/69564703-11920875-Casey_DeSantis_with_her_children_Madison_and_Mason_she_often_tal-a-1_1680871021934.jpg)
Casey DeSantis with her children Madison and Mason - she often talks about being a mom
![Curtis Dvorak and Casey DeSantis when they were co-anchors at First Coast News](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/04/07/13/69334505-11920875-Curtis_Dvorak_and_Casey_DeSantis_when_they_were_co_anchors_at_Fi-a-2_1680871021963.jpg)
Curtis Dvorak and Casey DeSantis when they were co-anchors at First Coast News
Ron DeSantis, 44, is making a visible effort to connect more as he goes on a nationwide book tour, which many see as a trial run for a presidential campaign. He has followed Casey's lead in emphasizing their role as parents.
'We have a six, a five, and a three-year-old at home,' he told an audience in Michigan on Thursday as he talked about education in schools before he switched back into policy mode, devolving into the minutia of reading, writing and arithmetic.
On the other side of the spectrum, there are reports that Casey DeSantis that she runs the governor's office and is the only person Ron DeSantis listens to.
With an office in the governor's suite, she is said to make decisions on staff hirings, dictate state policy, and reportedly helped engineer a coup in the state Republican Party where the DeSantis team got rid of staff seen as more loyal to then-President Donald Trump.
She's been labeled everything from the Florida governor's secret weapon to a Machiavellian creature doing a Lady McBeth impersonation – a first lady with the charisma of Michelle Obama, the elegance of Jackie Kennedy, the mystic of Melania Trump and the cajónes of Hillary Clinton.
And her dedication to politics started after a pivotal moment for the young couple.
In its aftermath, Casey would quit her journalism career to focus on Ron DeSantis' political future, helping him win the gubernatorial mansion and raise his national profile among the Republican Party.
It was June 14, 2017, the morning Republican lawmakers were practicing for the annual Congressional Baseball Game. Ron DeSantis was on the team and at that practice where a gunman opened fire, injuring six people, including Republican Rep. Steve Scalise.
Casey was the morning anchor at First Coast News in Jacksonville, Fla., at the time. The couple had a one-year old daughter and one of her co-workers said the stres was visible on Casey as she cared for their child in Florida while Ron worked in Washington.
She was at work, in the newsroom, and learned about the shooting when the news of it broke across the wires.
What she didn't know was DeSantis had left practice early that morning, trying to beat the notorious Washington D.C. traffic to return to Capitol Hill.
Curtis Dvorak, who was her co-anchor at First Coast News at the time, remembers how Casey broke down in the parking lot after she spoke to her husband on phone.
'She is in her car on the phone with him and she was just in tears, just melted. Just like sobbing. And so I grabbed her and I hugged her,' he told DailyMail.com.
Ron DeSantis had left practice early with fellow Congressman Jeff Duncan. And, on their way to their car, they ran into a man who asked them if it was Republicans or Democrats practicing.
'We both kind of shrugged it off, by the time we got back to the Hill when news broke we immediately called each other and said that guy was ... we've got to report that,' DeSantis told reporters at the time.
They had chatted with shooter James Hodgkinson.
DeSantis was third baseman for the Republican team. Hodgkinson had fired from the third baseline and took refuge behind the dugout there when Scalise's security detail returned fire.
![Ron DeSantis gives Casey a kiss on the cheek at an event shortly after he announced she was free from breast cancer in 2022](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/04/07/13/69304265-11920875-Ron_DeSantis_gives_Casey_a_kiss_on_the_cheek_at_an_event_shortly-a-4_1680871022013.jpg)
Ron DeSantis gives Casey a kiss on the cheek at an event shortly after he announced she was free from breast cancer
![FBI and other law enforcement officials on the scene in Alexandria, Va., after a shooting at the Republicans practicing for the Congressional Baseball Game](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/04/06/21/69566209-11920875-image-m-44_1680813086814.jpg)
FBI and other law enforcement officials on the scene in Alexandria, Va., after a shooting at the Republicans practicing for the Congressional Baseball Game
Rep. Trent Kelly, who took over third base when DeSantis left, said after the shooting he believed he was the first target.
When he saw the shooter, he ran, zigzagging to his left and then to his right - a tactic he'd learned in the Army. Hodgkinson fired at him as he ran and eventually hit Scalise, who was at second base. DeSantis would have been right in the target zone if he stayed at the practice.
Casey and Madison flew to Washington D.C. that night to be with Ron. She attended that year's game to watch him play.
But the shooting also marked a turning point for Casey. Within a year, she gave up her career as a television anchor to support her husband's political campaign. And she would have their second child.
Mason DeSantis was born on March 26, 2018 – about nine months after the shooting.
Dvorak remembers that after the shooting he saw a 'more determined' Casey. He said her demeanor changed and she gave the message that 'this is real. We're not just getting out of this fight.'
Former Republican Rep. Rodney Davis, who played on the Republican team with DeSantis, wasn't surprised to hear it was a life-changing moment. He was at bat when the shooter opened fire, causing him to lunge for the first-base dugout. He told DailyMail.com it was a life-changing experience for everyone on the team and their families.
'It changed my wife and I's life to so I can understand that,' he said. 'And if that was a moment where they, as a family sat down and discussed next steps in Ron's career and the next steps in their life - that does not surprise me because it had a tremendous impact on my life and a tremendous impact on my wife's life and it, frankly, still has an impact to this day.'
In a 2018 interview with her old television station, Casey talked about the impact the shooting had on their family.
'My husband would have been right in that line where the shooter was coming from,' she said. 'This strikes very, very personal for me because I was here at the station that morning, and I look up and I see our news covering a congressional baseball shooting, and I knew that my husband was there.'
'I don't think you can put words to what that does. I mean, that's your husband. I mean, that's your family and you think about something like that happening. It just - it was beyond words to describe it.'
'It was one of the most difficult days in my life.'
![Casey DeSantis (she was then Casey Black) with her friend and co-worker Nikki Kimbleton at a Jaguars football game in 2008](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/04/07/13/69334511-11920875-Casey_DeSantis_she_was_then_Casey_Black_with_her_friend_and_co_w-a-7_1680871022095.jpg)
Casey DeSantis (she was then Casey Black) with her friend and co-worker Nikki Kimbleton at a Jaguars football game in 2008
![Casey DeSantis in her days as a televion anchor](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/04/07/13/69304241-11920875-Casey_DeSantis_in_her_days_as_a_televion_anchor-a-5_1680871022081.jpg)
Casey DeSantis in her days as a televion anchor
Friends remember a different Casey back when she was a young journalist, trying to make a name for herself.
But, even then, they knew she was a star.
'She was just outgoing and beautiful and incredible. And one of the most talented people I've ever worked with,' Nikki Kimbleton, a former colleague at independent TV station News4Jax in Jacksonville, told DailyMail.com.
'She was so good. And she connected with the audience,' she added. 'Viewers loved her. She just, has something really, really special about her.'
Other friends noted Casey changed after DeSantis won his first term in office.
She took on the polish that people receive when they become public figures - her makeup was more professional, her hair shiner, and her clothes more expensive. She favors conservative cuts, bold colors, classic lines and, occasionally, long white gloves.
And she also got a wall of aides to protect her from the nuisances of everyday life.
But those trappings meant to protect can become prisons. People from her past have been cut out. Her cell phone number has been changed. Some old friends were dropped.
Ron and Casey DeSantis – both golf lovers - met at a driving range at the University of Northern Florida.
She has told the story many times: she was working on her swing and, out of golf balls, she looked around to see anyone had left extra buckets of balls around the tees. Ron DeSantis, who was practicing nearby, thought she was checking him out.
They started talking. The rest is dating – and political – history.
![Casey and Ron DeSantis on their wedding day in 2009](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/04/07/13/69304203-11920875-Casey_and_Ron_DeSantis_on_their_wedding_day_in_2009-a-11_1680871022167.jpg)
Casey and Ron DeSantis on their wedding day in 2009
Nikki Kimbleton was so close to Casey she was a bridesmaid in her wedding.
She told DailyMail.com that, prior to DeSantis, Casey didn’t really date around and wasn’t known to be on the dating apps.
‘She was very, very selective, very selective. And trust me she had a lot of guys asking her out,’ she said. ‘She was just waiting for the right fit.’
She described going out with Casey as fun – but innocent - girls nights involving football games and a ladies’ trip to Charleston. Casey didn’t even have a bachelorette party. At her wedding she looked like a Disney princess – even as it rained during the reception.
And she remained private about their romance.
‘I can remember one of the first times they were together. We all had a little get together at her place, which was on the water. It was on the river in Jacksonville. And they sat outside on the patio together like the whole night and they were really, really, really cute,’ Kimbleton said.
She noted her mom used to dog-sit for them and remembered she had asked DeSantis, who was in the Navy at the time, about his future plans.
'He told my mom very early, like, right when they were married that he was going to he was going to be in politics.'
She said it surprised her because she didn't recall Casey ever talking about politics.
'We never discussed politics, and partly because at the time, we were both pretty serious journalists. And it was just taboo,' she said.
In fact, one of the few times it came up was during that girls' trip to Charleston. They happened to be at the same restaurant as Bill Clinton. Kimbleton wanted a photo with him but Casey wasn't impressed, saying it was because he was a Democrat.
![Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis waves as he stands with his wife Casey and children Mason, left, Mamie, and Madison, right, after being sworn in for his second term in January](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/04/07/13/69304211-11920875-Florida_Gov_Ron_DeSantis_waves_as_he_stands_with_his_wife_Casey_-a-6_1680871022093.jpg)
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis waves as he stands with his wife Casey and children Mason, left, Mamie, and Madison, right, after being sworn in for his second term in January
![Casey DeSantis talked about how her husband cared for her during her breast cancer treatment in an emotion campaign ad in 2022](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/04/07/13/69304255-11920875-Casey_DeSantis_talked_about_how_her_husband_cared_for_her_during-a-10_1680871022123.jpg)
Casey DeSantis talked about how her husband cared for her during her breast cancer treatment in an emotion campaign ad in 2022
No one doubts that now Casey DeSantis is all in on Ron DeSantis' political career.
She was with him at his side in Georgia last week during one of his stops on his book tour. She was in the front row, clapping and holding the kids, when he addressed Republicans at the Ronald Reagan presidential library in February.
For both his gubernatorial campaigns, she was a tour de force, giving speeches for him on the stump, advising on strategy and bringing in more than one million Moms for DeSantis, showing her ability to harnass voters.
And she was behind some of DeSantis' most memorable ads: the ones voters talked about and that garnered national attention.
In 2018, she featured their small children in a television ad where Ron helped them 'build a wall' made of colorful blocks. Casey narrated the ad, touting DeSantis' skills as a father.
Four years later, she got more personal.
In October 2021, Casey had announced she was diagnosed with breast cancer. She had six treatments of chemotherapy and said Ron was at her side the entire time.
'He never missed a chemotherapy appointment. Six of those. Sitting in there, very uncomfortable. And he held my hand through everything,' she told Florida reporters.
Ron DeSantis later told Piers Morgan he wasn't too worried even though he described the chemo treatments as tough.
'You always have that fear but I'm a data guy and I went and looked it up and I said, 'You're gonna beat it' and she didn't necessarily want to hear that because she was so scared just like anyone would be,' he said in an interview what aired on Fox Nation in March.
'But I'm like, 'I looked at the data, I'm looking at the treatment, you're gonna be okay'. So, I really felt confident and the doctors had a plan,' he said. 'I knew it wouldn't be easy, but I absolutely thought she was gonna beat it.'
But he did say it was hard to watch his wife go through chemotherapy.
'That was tough,' he said. 'I would say the chemotherapy it just, it saps you.'
After four months of chemotherapy and surgery, in January Ron announced that Casey was cancer free. He told Piers Morgan they celebrated with a couple of pints of Guinness.
A year after her initial diagnosis, Casey took to the television cameras to talk about her illness. Seated on a couch in the governor's mansion, wearing a purple sweater and jeans, she looked into the camera and described how Ron DeSantis helped her get through her treatment.
'I was facing the battle for my life. He was the dad who took care of my children when I couldn't. He was there to pick me off of the ground when I literally could not stand. He was there to fight for me when I didn't have the strength to fight for myself,' she said.
![Casey DeSantis, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, First Lady Jill Biden, and President Joe Biden examining damage from Hurricane Ian in October](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/04/07/13/69304263-11920875-Casey_DeSantis_Florida_Governor_Ron_DeSantis_First_Lady_Jill_Bid-a-9_1680871022110.jpg)
Casey DeSantis, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, First Lady Jill Biden, and President Joe Biden examining damage from Hurricane Ian in October
![Casey and Ron DeSantis with Donald and Melania Trump](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/04/07/13/69304303-11920875-Casey_and_Ron_DeSantis_with_Donald_and_Melania_Trump-a-12_1680871022178.jpg)
Casey and Ron DeSantis with Donald and Melania Trump
In her first four years in the gubernatorial mansion, she has transformed the ceremonial role of first lady into one of policy and power.
'She gave up her career to campaigning for him. She's a mother, a spouse, full time, double full time jobs,' noted Justin Sayfie, a long Florida Republican operative who worked for Jeb Bush.
'She's bringing to the role of first lady - that's a little bit different than in the past in terms of balancing these roles - of being a kind of quote unquote, the traditional spouse versus being a woman who has a career outside the home.'
The morning after Hurricane Ian slammed into Florida, DeSantis brought Casey to the podium to talk about a state disaster relief fund she was leading to bring in donations to those in need.
Twelve hours later the fund had raised more than $10 million. By the end of 2022, it had raised more than $60 million.
She's also helped secure $100 million in state funds for cancer research funding. And she launched the Hope for Healing Florida initiative in 2019, which helps Floridians find mental health and substance abuse resources. She goes around the state awarding grants to local non-profits, often taking one of the couple's children with her.
Their three young children - Madison, Mason, and Mamie – play a major role in the parents' political lives and on their social media accounts.
Casey DeSantis talks about her family often in her work, publicly praising her mother-in-law Karen DeSantis for helping with the kids when she needs it.
Her own upbringing was in red country middle America.
![Casey DeSantis was a champion equestrian in her high school and college years](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/04/07/13/69304197-11920875-Casey_DeSantis_was_a_champion_equestrian_in_her_high_school_and_-a-8_1680871022100.jpg)
Casey DeSantis was a champion equestrian in her high school and college years
Born Jill Casey Black on June 26, 1980, in Troy, Ohio, she grew up in the small town about 20 miles north of Dayton.
It's known for its annual Troy Strawberry Festival and its 'Public Square,' a traffic circle in the center of town with a fountain and Victorian-age buildings marking its boundaries. Troy has a population of around 26,000 – only about 6,000 more from when Casey lived there. It is mostly white and Republican.
She was the second of two children – her dad Robert is an optometrist and former United States Air Force officer while mom Jeanne Caponigro is speech pathologist.
Casey was on homecoming court and played high school sports, including basketball and cross country.
Her parents have retired to Aiken, South Carolina. Calls by DailyMail.com to their listed phone number were not answered.
Casey was a passionate horseback rider growing up and competed during her university years when she attended the College of Charleston in South Carolina.
She graduated in August 2003 and moved to Jacksonville for a career in journalism.
Then she met Ron DeSantis. He was in the Navy, stationed at Mayport Naval Station, serving in the Navy Judge Advocate General's Corps.
The couple married on September 26, 2009, at Walt Disney World's Seven Seas Lagoon, a fact that would become ironic later in their life when, as governor, DeSantis waged against the company.
But the location was his wife's idea, he explained recently.
'We got married at Disney World. It wasn't my idea,' he said during a trip to Iowa earlier this month.
He noted he left the wedding planning to his fiancé.
'I said, look, the wedding it's all you - you just do what you want. And her parents apparently were very big Disney enthusiasts, had taken their kids to the parks over the years.'
He added: 'I said you do whatever you want, but I just put my foot down on one thing, no Mickey or Donald Duck and our wedding needs to be traditional.'
'Who would have thought that I would end up toe to toe with them,' he said with a laugh.
![Casey and Ron DeSantis exit Air Force One with Florida Gov. Rick Scott and President Donald Trump for a 2018 election rally](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/04/07/13/69304345-11920875-Casey_and_Ron_DeSantis_exit_Air_Force_One_with_Florida_Gov_Rick_-a-14_1680871022183.jpg)
Casey and Ron DeSantis exit Air Force One with Florida Gov. Rick Scott and President Donald Trump for a 2018 election rally
![The DeSantis family: Ron and Casey with children Madison, Mason and Mamie](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/04/07/13/69304209-11920875-The_DeSantis_family_Ron_and_Casey_with_children_Madison_Mson_and-a-13_1680871022180.jpg)
The DeSantis family: Ron and Casey with children Madison, Mason and Mamie
But that battle may be nothing compared to what would lie ahead if he runs for president. Donald Trump doesn't hold back when it comes to his perceived enemies. And he's already targeted DeSantis with one of his favorite insults – a derogatory nickname. Trump has mocked him as Ron Desanctimonious.
If DeSantis does announce a president bid, the bet is it's his wife who will get her biggest starring role to date.
She's already partly there.
During that first Ron DeSantis trip to Iowa, the state's Republican governor, Kim Reynolds, introduced him to a crowd with a brief description of his career and accomplishments.
And she concluded with this: 'Perhaps his biggest claim to fame is he's the husband of Casey DeSantis.'
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