The governor addressed over 700 Realtors during Florida Realtors Convention & Trade Expo and received Florida Realtors PAC’s endorsement for his re-election.
ORLANDO, Fla. – Gov. Ron DeSantis joined Realtors® on Friday during the Realtor Party Town Hall, part of the 2022 Florida Realtors® Convention & Trade Expo.
At the same event, Florida Realtors® Political Action Committee (Florida Realtors PAC) officially endorsed DeSantis in his race for a second term as Florida’s governor in the upcoming November election. Florida Realtors President Christina Pappas introduced the governor and said DeSantis asked the Realtors to hold announcing the endorsement until he had a chance to address Realtors in person.
Pappas called the governor a “long-time supporter of the real estate industry,” and a man who deemed real estate an essential business when the pandemic began. “He also supports the state’s affordable housing efforts, including $100 million for the Hometown Heroes program.”
In his address, DeSantis recounted pandemic challenges and how the state handled many of them.
“We ended the fiscal year, June 30, with by far the largest budget surplus in the history of the state,” DeSantis said. “You guys (Realtors) know better probably than anyone, but we saw an unprecedented migration of people moving into states like Florida.” In 2020, the latest year data is available, “We led in net migration – $20 billion in adjusted gross income moved into the state. … There’s never been any year in American history that saw that kind of wealth moving into the state, and we did it two years in a row.”
DeSantis also addressed the Hometown Heroes program, which he signed into law – an initiative strongly backed by Florida Realtors.
The Hometown Heroes program is “very important when you have a lot of folks who represent the staples of communities … how are they going to live in the community they serve. If they have to commute and hour, an hour and half, that’s not ideal.”
DeSantis said the program has had a great response so far. “It’s probably a model that we’re going to build off of in the next legislative session, so stay tuned for that,” he added.
In addition to Hometown Heroes, DeSantis said he and the legislature are “looking to do some stuff on the ballot, including some property tax relief.”
Florida Realtors PAC endorsements
Florida Realtors PAC interviews candidates for office and endorses those who support the state’s real estate industry and its homeowners. It released the majority of its 2022 endorsements in July, following that up today with endorsements of Governor DeSantis and Florida Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Jimmy Patronis at the Realtor Party Town Hall.
“Governor DeSantis is a true champion of the real estate industry and the professionals who work within it,” says Margy Grant, CEO of Florida Realtors. “Whether it was designating us essential at the start of the pandemic, being a vocal advocate for affordable housing solutions, or working hard to protect Florida’s natural resources, the governor clearly recognizes the importance of Realtors and the critical services they provide Floridians.”
Regarding the endorsement of CFO Patronis, Grant said he “knows just how critical of a role the real estate industry plays in the health of Florida’s economy and he’s not afraid to take action to ensure that connection remains strong. Most recently, he pushed for COVID-19 liability protections to help safeguard our members and their businesses, advocated for new homeownership programs for front-line workers struggling to buy a home, and he is working to find solutions to the state’s property insurance crisis.”
© 2022 Florida Realtors®
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Author: kerrys