Ron DeSantis

Gov. Ron DeSantis Looks to the Midwest for His Roots

The parents of the likely Republican candidate for president were both from the Midwest

Getty Images

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, now a likely Republican candidate for president, has never lived in Youngstown, Ohio, where his mother's family is from.

But the once-overwhelmingly Democratic corner of the industrial Midwest -- where the economic populism and social conservatism that realigned the Republican Party and helped elect Donald Trump have intersected after decades of despair — offers an instructive origin story.

Places such as Youngstown and Aliquippa, Pennsylvania, where his father also grew up in the shadows of now-shuttered steel mills, have become incubators for the kinds of cultural grievances that DeSantis nurtures.

Read more about the Midwest roots that shaped DeSantis' political values at NBCNews.com.

Contact Us