Six years ago, Floridians approved by almost 65 percent a state constitutional amendment to restore voting rights to people who had served time in prison on felony charges. Their number rose from 150,000 to about 1.7 million between 2010 and 2016, the Brennan Center has reported. They included more than one in five African Americans of voting age.

Gov. Ron DeSantis and his allies in the Legislature, long dominated by Republicans, amended the amendment through legislation that requires all court-imposed fines and other financial obligations to be first be paid. The reason for the intervention was obvious. Most of the beneficiaries would probably register and vote Democratic, impacting DeSantis’ reelection. He won his first gubernatorial race by 0.4 percent.

Also, DeSantis rejected two separate electoral maps which lawmakers prepared and pressured them into adopting one that he drew. His map eliminated the 5th Congressional District which, for 30 years, an African American had won. Instead, the map divided African Americans voters among four districts, all of which elected European Americans.

Critics accused the governor of violating the Fair Districts Amendments (FDA) to the Florida constitution which voters approved by 63 percent in 2010. DeSantis, who argues that the FDA violates the U.S. Constitution’s Equal Protection Clause, was sued and the case has reached the Florida Supreme Court, five of whose seven members are DeSantis appointees. Some observers believe he is hoping the case will reach the U.S. Supreme Court which could end up deeming the FDA unconstitutional, clearing the way for wholesale gerrymandering.

In addition, DeSantis has launched a campaign to defeat a referendum calling for the replacement of his sixweek abortion ban with this constitutional amendment: “No law shall prohibit, penalize, delay, or restrict abortion before viability or when necessary to protect the patient’s health, as determined by the patient’s healthcare provider.” This time, the governor did not wait until after the vote. His administration is investigating what it claims is possible fraud in the collection of signatures. Police officers have been knocking on doors to question some of those who signed, even though election supervisors have done the required verification and the time for such review has expired. Also, the administration released public service announcements claiming that it is merely seeking to protect women’s health. Civil-rights groups have sued, charging illegal interference in an electoral matter. There is more.

A Republican candidate for state attorney for the Orlando area has sued the governor and other Republican officials, accusing them of running a sham candidate to defeat him so a DeSantis-favored candidate could win the primary. The position in question was held by Democrat Monique Worrell, one of two state attorneys whom the governor fired.

There is still more.

State officials prepared a plan to build 350-room hotels, golf courses and pickleball courts on nine state parks and scheduled nine simultaneous public hearings, each lasting just one hour. The Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) backed down following public outrage after The Tampa Bay Times broke the story. The plan includes Oleta River State Park in North Miami and the Dr. Von D. Mizell-Eula Johnson State Park in Fort Lauderdale.

DEP officials claimed that the “Great Outdoors Initiative” is a way “to expand public access, increase outdoor activities and provide new lodging options across Florida’s state parks.” Following the bipartisan backlash, DeSantis told reporters, “It was not approved by me. I never saw that. A lot of stuff was just half-baked and it was not ready for prime time.”

The state fired the whistleblower, James Gaddis, father of an 11-yearold, from his $49,346.04 a year job. He started a GoFundMe page which quickly raised more than $200,000.

The Times also reported that an official document, “Florida State Parks with additional capacity for new Recreational Opportunities,” obtained through a freedom of information request, show that 26 of the 175 state parks were initially considered for commercial development.

Also, DeSantis set about making life miserable for members of the LGBTQ community. He signed the Florida Parental Rights in Education Act, which critics dubbed the “Don’t Say Gay” law, barring classroom lessons on sexual orientation and gender identity, among other anti-LGBTQ policies.

He also took on critical race theory (CRT) – a scholarly proposition that the United States has a racist background and the effects are still felt today. He signed the “Stop Wrongs to Our Kids and Employees (Stop WOKE) law, banning schools from teaching non-existent CRT lessons.

Those two laws have led to considerable confusion among educators and parents and widespread bookbanning. DeSantis also converted the public liberal arts New College in Sarasota into a conservative education laboratory; it dumped its books into a garbage bin.

Such policies have originated from, or are supported by, conservative organizations such as the Washington, D.C., -based Heritage Foundation, the Michigan-based Hillsdale College, the New York-based Manhattan Institute for Policy – out-of-state groups influencing Florida policy — and the homegrown Moms for Liberty.

DeSantis has also imposed his authority on school boards and local governments, limiting their powers and endorsing preferred candidates in non-partisan elections. He signed a bill severely restricting public protests against perceived injustices and another preserving Confederate symbols in a state notorious for its slavery history.

In public health, DeSantis signed a bill barring local governments from requiring employers to provide water and shelter for outdoor workers during intense heat. He denounced COVID-19 protections, such as maskwearing and vaccinations. Businesses, schools, cruise ships and government entities were barred from requiring proof of vaccination. He hired Dr. Joseph Lapado, who had no experience with viruses and, like the governor, a science skeptic, as surgeon general. So far, around 93,000 Floridians have died from COVID-19, Health News Florida reported, citing state statistics.

DeSantis, who has an A+ rating from the NRA Political Victory Fund, also signed a bill allowing Floridians to carry concealed firearms without a permit.

Another law will bar the unhoused from sleeping in open spaces.

Also, the administration allocated $12 million to cover the cost of picking up refugees from the southern border and depositing them at Democraticrun cities; two such trips were made.

Those issues and more, which have already been widely reported, illustrate DeSantis’ pursuit of an aggressive conservative agenda. He started out in politics as a member of the Tea Party movement formed in response to Barak Obama’s election as the first African American president. He was elected to Congress three times before becoming governor of a state where Democrats were the majority for years but he has done little in terms of bipartisanship. The reason could be that, despite an almost evenly split political landscape until recently, Republican lawmakers have been willing allies as the governor adopted policies clearly designed to give him a national profile.

Meanwhile, issues of concern to citizens remain unresolved, including high homeowner insurance cost and an acute housing shortage.

Term-limits prevent DeSantis from seeking re-election but he will be in office until January 2027, a year before the next presidential election. His foray into the 2020 race failed, due especially to hostility from the incumbent, Donald Trump, whose endorsement helped him become governor. He could run again so there is no fathoming what he will do between now and then.

Whatever it is, DeSantis is by now well known for advancing his personal ambition. In fact, if Florida were a nation onto itself, his political style would place him on par with at least some of the milder illiberal autocrats,” the ones who, while acknowledging democratic constraints, govern in a heavy-handed manner.

As if to prove the point, DeSantis announced that Florida will conduct its own investigation into a possible attempt on Trump’s life on September 15 in West Palm Beach, although federal authorities are on the case. He said the suspect may have broken state laws but he also told reporters that “there’s a need to make sure that the truth about all this comes out in a way that is credible," The USA Today Network reported. In other words, the outcome will be believable only if DeSantis says so.