Former state GOP chairwoman to head up Ron DeSantis campaign in Alabama
The former chairwoman of the Alabama Republican Party, who also co-chaired Mo Brooks’ Senate campaign last year, is backing Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in the 2024 presidential contest.
Terry Lathan was named the DeSantis campaign chair in Alabama on Friday.
In a statement, Lathan said DeSantis “can win” next November, and called him a “levelheaded, time-tested conservative patriot.”
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Though she did not mention former President Donald Trump — who has a comfortable lead in national polling — Lathan said that DeSantis, as governor of neighboring Florida, has led with results since he’s taken office, and not just “from words.”
“Governor DeSantis is exactly who America needs at this important political crossroad in our nation,” Lathan said. “While we have several gifted and talented candidates, Ron DeSantis is a time-tested warrior who has implemented conservative policy and understands the important of our military needs.”
She praised DeSantis’ military career which included him earning the Bronze Star Medal and the Iraq Campaign Medal win the U.S. Navy and as a JAG officer.
FILE – Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signs the Parental Rights in Education bill, also known as the “Don’t say gay,” bill, at Classical Preparatory School, on March 28, 2022, in Shady Hills, Fla. DeSantis’ divisive education policies have faced wide criticism from civil rights leaders and professional educators, among others, but they also have paid off politically. (Douglas R. Clifford/Tampa Bay Times via AP, File)AP
“Governor DeSantis epitomizes rock solid conservative principles in his actions while fighting insane liberal policies in a statesmanlike manner,” she said. “His incredible results are not from words — they are from his actions.”
Lathan’s endorsement comes after she touted DeSantis during last year’s Senate campaign in Alabama after Trump withdrew an earlier endorsement of Brooks. The former president eventually sided with Katie Britt, who went on to defeat Brooks in a GOP runoff.
Lathan was the Brooks campaign co-chair at the time. She told AL.com in March 2022 that she heard from “a lot of upset people” over Trump’s withdrawal of the Brooks endorsement, saying the move “has really shaken a lot of Trump supporters” in Alabama.
She said that people, at the time, were confused over Trump’s accusation that Brooks was “woke,” calling the former Huntsville congressman’s voting record as the “gold standard” for Republicans in “every category.”
Lathan said, “I read that word and started laughing out loud. I don’t know if Mo Brooks can say the word, ‘woke.’”
Trump withdrew the endorsement during a time in which Brooks struggled in polling and called him “woke” and disloyal to him for doubting claims about the 2020 presidential election.
Lathan, a former Mobile County Republican Party chair, became the head of the state party in 2015. She held that position until 2021, becoming the longest serving head of the state GOP party since 1985.
Her role in the DeSantis campaign comes at a time when Trump enjoys a resounding 41.2 percentage point lead over DeSantis, according to a FiveThirtyEight aggregate of polling into the Republican presidential contest. Trump is at 55.5%, while DeSantis is second at 14.2%, and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy is third at 7.3%.
Trump, though, faces 91 criminal counts against him in three separate cases. The legal activity, pundits have said, has helped boost the former president in polling.