Florida first lady Casey DeSantis declares she's 'fit to fight' after cancer-free diagnosis

• Casey DeSantis is ramping up official duties after taking a break during chemo treatments.
• The Florida first lady is cancer-free now and one of her platforms is children's mental health.

Florida first lady Casey DeSantis declared Wednesday that she was "fit to fight" after recovering from a breast cancer diagnosis earlier this year.

"I'm feeling good, and I'm here, and I'm fit to fight, and that's a lot due to your encouragement," she said at the Eglin Air Force Base in Florida, where she was announcing a new program for veterans.

Casey DeSantis, the wife of rising Republican star Gov. Ron DeSantis, has been resuming public events during the last five weeks after taking a break when she was undergoing chemotherapy for breast cancer. The DeSantises first announced her diagnosis publicly in October 2021 and the governor said doctors declared his wife cancer-free in early March 2022.

At Wednesday's event, Casey DeSantis thanked people who wrote her letters and who prayed for her when she was sick, saying, "I want you all to know that it didn't go unnoticed."

The first lady is widely known among GOP circles to be her husband's closest confidante. Ron DeSantis is expected to easily get reelected governor this year and is widely considered to be a top GOP contender for the presidency in 2024. He has grabbed national attention for waging high-profile battles with the Biden administration and ignoring COVID-19 mitigation measures endorsed by federal health officials.

As first lady of Florida, Casey DeSantis has focused her work on child mental health and resiliency. Wednesday's event was part of that platform, in which she announced the launch of a program called "Continue the Mission."

The program will encourage veterans, military spouses, and former law enforcement officers to sign up to work as child protective investigators — a high-stress, emotional job that faces high turnover because it requires investigating cases of childhood abuse and neglect.

"Many when they are going from active duty and going into reserves or going on to become a veteran, many say they have lost their purpose," Casey DeSantis said of her conversation with Florida veterans. "They have been spending their entire life serving the country, doing something greater than themselves, and then they come back and some of them feel they have lost their purpose in life."

Casey DeSantis, a former news show host who is 41, is a veteran spouse herself. Ron DeSantis, 43, served in the Navy from 2004 to 2010, including a deployment in Iraq.

The first lady is also ramping up support for her husband politically. On Tuesday, she launched "Mamas for DeSantis" to support her husband's gubernatorial re-election, Fox News reported.

"I kick a good guy out the door every day," Casey DeSantis said Wednesday. "I couldn't be more proud of everything he has done."