Hurricane, shooting test DeSantis leadership as he trades the campaign trail for crisis management

By ANTHONY IZAGUIRRE and JILL COLVIN
Associated Press

First a shooting, then a storm. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is facing a one-two punch testing his leadership at a critical moment for his presidential campaign, with the Republican moving to cast aside the culture warrior and show the country that he can govern through crises. The first calamity came last weekend when a white gunman killed three Black people at a convenience store in Jacksonville. Days later, Hurricane Idalia was barreling toward Florida. It slammed into Florida’s Big Bend region. The back-to-back emergencies have forced DeSantis to disembark from the campaign trail and given him a chance to display competence under pressure.