By: Winston Wei

Presidential candidate Ron DeSantis is special because he is young. Unlike most other candidates – who have grandchildren – he is still relatively young. If elected on inauguration day in 2024, he will be 46 years old, younger than any other elected president since John F. Kennedy.

While DeSantis did not explicitly campaign that he was young, he stated that a president needed “energy and discipline” r to keep up with the busy schedule of events occurring throughout the day. DeSantis and his wife, Casey DeSantis, have three children 6, 5, and 3 years old. As a parent, DeSantis worries about schools and popular culture.

DeSantis’s goal is to differentiate himself from Joe Biden and Donald Trump, who both have sons that are older than him. According to a national poll by Quinnipiac University, about two-thirds of voters believe Biden, at 80 years old, is too old to have a second term as president. Only 36 percent of voters thought the same way about Trump, who is 77.

However, DeSantis’ conservative views on abortion, climate change, and race put him at a disadvantage compared to others in his generation. Most people disagree with DeSantis’ views which leaves him with only two in five voters between 35 to 49 years of age having a good view of him, according to a Quinnipiac poll.

There has been no presidential family with children as young as Mr. DeSantis’s since the Kennedys. This gives hope to Republican supporters of DeSantis.

Janie Jackson is a Democratic voter from Miami who runs a housekeeping business.“I don’t like him as a politician. But I think he’s a good father and husband,” Jackson said.

Donald Trump could be vulnerable to comparisons involving family because he divorced twice and has five children with three different women. This gives DeSantis an advantage in public view.

As a result, younger Republicans have been supporting DeSantis. According to a poll by The Economist and YouGov, Mr. DeSantis has received the highest support from Republicans between the ages of 18 to 29. However, he was still behind Trump in that group.

As a Republican, Ron DeSantis’s campaign about family issues appealed to conservative Republicans but was criticized by Democrats and civil rights activists. He signed legislation banning abortion, making gender-transition care illegal, and punishing businesses that allow minors to see drag shows or other LGBTQ identities.

While Ron DeSantis is very young and capable of being a president, he also has conservative views that may be controversial.