Florida Governor Ron DeSantis was one of the night’s biggest winners in the U.S. midterm elections, commented Insigneo’s chief investment officer, Ahmed Riesgo.
The expert explained how DeSantis “outperformed expectations in largely Democratic strongholds like Miami-Dade and Palm Beach Counties”.
In addition, the governor, who was re-elected, polled well among Latin community.
Several political analysts noted how DeSantis was very well positioned for the 2024 presidential race. Riesgo agrees with this view.
“He should be considered the frontrunner for the Republican party Presidential nomination as of today,” he added.
On the other hand, the Insigneo expert, highlight that President Joe Biden is another big winner of the night because although he will lose weight in the House of Representatives, that defeat will be better than what is customary for presidents to suffer.
Riesgo remembered that Presidents and Congressional majorities almost always get flipped in the midterms. “Historically, the Democrats lost this election back in November 2020 when they were first elected,” he commented.
According to the analyst, Democrats “did an above average job of minimizing losses, especially considering the poor macro environment they faced and how many respondents during exit polls claimed that the country was headed in the wrong direction”.
On the other hand, the “red wave” that some pundits claimed was swelling in recent weeks did not hit the beach on Tuesday. Instead, we got merely a “red ripple”.
In that sense, “a divided government is obviously still the base case, but the small Republican majority in the House and the slim majority of either party controlling the Senate means that the debt ceiling will be a major issue for the markets to deal with in 2023,” he commented.
With this scenario, “both parties will have enough opposition critical mass (i.e., scapegoats) to blame the other side for not agreeing on a budget. ” he concluded.
For Marcelo Soba
