Who is Casey DeSantis, wife of Florida Governor Ron DeSantis?

Publish date: 2024-05-03

Explore More

Casey DeSantis — the media-savvy wife of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis —  has been called everything from his “secret weapon” to “the power behind the throne” and “his biggest liability.”

The fashionable 42-year-old former TV news journalist,  breast cancer survivor and mom of three snagged headlines Tuesday as she kicked off her husband’s much-anticipated 2024 presidential campaign.

But her charm, political involvement and alleged “vindictiveness” have long been a behind-the-scenes force in the Republican’s rise to power. 

Here’s everything to know about Florida’s first lady.

What’s Casey DeSantis’ career history?

Early in her career, the Ohio native hosted TV shows on the Golf Channel including “On The Tee” and “PGA Tour Today” before landing a reporting job at WJXT in Jacksonville, Fla.

She worked at the independent station as a crime reporter, morning presenter and anchor before moving on to special reports, including for CNN.

She later hosted the roundtable discussion show “The Chat” on Jacksonville station WTLV in 2014. Two years later, she produced “The JT Townsend Story,” an award-winning documentary about the disabled high school football hero.

In 2019, the stylish mom of three became the youngest woman to serve as Florida’s first lady in 2019 at age 38.

Casey DeSantis worked as a TV crime reporter and anchor in Jacksonville before meeting her husband, Ron. Getty Images

What has her role been in Ron DeSantis’ political success?

Casey DeSantis is a warm and personable remedy to her sometimes stiff and socially awkward husband, according to political insiders. Her presence helps “humanize the robot,” one of Ron DeSantis’ former staffers said in a Politico profile last week.

She’s at ease in the spotlight, often giving speeches that praise the rising Republican star as “a good dad” and “the embodiment of the American dream,” according to the report.

Others have compared her glamour and poise to Jackie Kennedy Onassis, calling her “Queen of Camelot 2.0.”

Her style and poise has been compared to Jackie Kennedy Onassis. Getty Images

Behind the scenes, the couple is so “in sync” politically, they’ve developed an almost “singular identity,” according to a source that worked with the couple during his congressional run in 2015. She advises him on everything from media appearances to policy, sources have said.

“In shaping him, in driving him … it’s different,” one veteran Republican lobbyist told Politico.

 “[She’s] unlike any first lady in my extended memory,” said Tallahassee fixture Mac Stipanovich.

How many kids does she have?

Casey and Ron DeSantis have three children together — Madison, 6, Mason, 4, and Mamie, 2.

Who are Casey and Ron DeSantis’ kids?

The couple’s oldest, Madison, appeared in a 2018 DeSantis campaign ad underscoring Donald Trump’s endorsement of DeSantis for Florida governor.

The next year, they held a baptism for their middle child, Mason, at the Florida governor’s mansion with water reportedly collected from the Sea of Galilee on a trip to Israel.

Casey and Ron DeSantis have three kids: Mamie, 2, Madison, 6, and Mason, 4.

The youngest, Mamie, was born while DeSantis was in office, making her the first baby to live in the Florida governor’s mansion in more than half a century.

What has Casey DeSantis been criticized for?

Former DeSantis staffers and insiders have bashed Casey DeSantis as “paranoid” and “vindictive,” while a Trump operative compared her to “Lady Macbeth.”

One DeSantis supporter insisted that she needs to “take a more traditional role,’’ according to the Politico profile, which calls her the politician’s “greatest asset and his greatest liability.”

“He’s a vindictive motherf–ker. She’s twice that,” said a higher-up, who worked on one of his campaigns. “She’s the scorekeeper.”

Casey DeSantis is said to have “shaped” her husband as a politician. REUTERS

What’s the story of her personal life?

Jill Casey Black was born on June 26, 1980, in Troy, Ohio, the daughter of an optometrist dad and a speech pathologist mom.

She attended the College of Charleston in South Carolina, where she competed on the equestrian team, and earned a bachelor of science in economics with a minor in French, according to the Independent.

She met Ron DeSantis on a golf course at Naval Station Mayport, and the couple married at Disney World in 2009 — a setting the Florida governor has since acknowledged as “ironic,” considering his heated ongoing battle with the entertainment giant.

What is Casey DeSantis’ history with cancer?

She revealed she’d been diagnosed with breast cancer in October 2021, and briefly left her husband’s campaign trail.

Six months later, she announced the treatment had been successful and that she was now cancer-free — declaring at a campaign event, “Damn it feels good to be here.” 

She has since dedicated herself to raising cancer awareness.

ncG1vNJzZmimqaW8tMCNnKamZ5Gnwaqvy55msKCfYra0ecKaqp6xXZmytK3NraCsZaees6Z5zp9kn6Sfp7alrYygpq%2BdoqO8s3nRqKVmnJWorq%2FAyKxm