DeSantis expected to formally enter 2024 race next week: Sources

An official kickoff event is expected the week of Memorial Day.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is expected to file paperwork with the Federal Election Commission declaring his candidacy next week, which would formally enter DeSantis into the 2024 presidential race, two sources familiar with the plans told ABC News.

DeSantis will enter the Republican primary field as former President Donald Trump’s biggest rival for the nomination. A recent ABC News/Washington Post poll showed DeSantis as Trump's nearest potential opponent among Republicans and GOP-leaning independents.

The development would come as top donors gather in Miami next week, where a mix of people on his soon-to-be campaign and the PAC supporting his candidacy will be in attendance.

MORE: DeSantis' brand as a 'fighter' on the line as Trump throws haymakers

But this will not be the official kickoff event -- sources say a formal event launching his campaign would likely come the week of Memorial Day. Sources say he is considering holding the event in his hometown of Dunedin, Florida, but sources described the plans as in flux.

PHOTO: Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks during an Iowa GOP reception, May 13, 2023 in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks during an Iowa GOP reception, May 13, 2023 in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
Stephen Maturen/Getty Images

A spokesperson for DeSantis declined to comment. The Wall Street Journal was the first to report DeSantis is expected to file the paperwork next week.

Sources caution plans could still change, as DeSantis’ timeline for his 2024 roll out has already been moved up after initially eyeing a mid-June event.

ABC News previously reported that DeSantis’ team scrapped tentative plans to first launch an exploratory committee and moved up the formal announcement date amid an onslaught of attacks by former President Trump.

DeSantis' team has been ramping up its operation in recent weeks, including hiring staffers and establishing an office space in Tallahassee, sources previously told ABC News.

The governor was in Iowa this past weekend courting conservative voters, telling them it was time for the party to move on and find a "positive alternative." Trump, meanwhile, canceled his own rally there due to weather.

"If we make the 2024 election a referendum on Joe Biden and his failures, and if we provide a positive alternative for the future of this country, Republicans will win across the board," DeSantis said as he spoke in Sioux Center. "If we do not do that, if we get distracted, if we focus the election on the past or on other side issues, then I think the Democrats are going to beat us again."

MORE: DeSantis likely to skip exploratory committee as team begins debate prep: Sources

The ABC News/Washington Post poll found that while DeSantis was Trump's biggest rival, the former president outperformed all his current and potential opponents at this stage of the race.

Among the six best-known candidates, Trump clinched 51% support from Republicans and GOP-leaning independents while DeSantis garnered 25%. Still, a majority of those voters said they'd be satisfied with either Trump (75%) or DeSantis (64%) as their presidential nominee.

DeSantis was reelected to a second term as governor last November, besting his Democratic opponent Charlie Crist by nearly 20 points.

ABC News' Soo Rin Kim contributed to this report.

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