Well, DeSantis did have a huge victory, and it’s unquestionable that he won by a large margin and with proper voting and no cheating.
But...
DeSantis did have a very poor democrat/independent/former-republican as the opponent. Crist was the poorest candidate that democrats could have put up against DeSantis. But, democrats could have put up a sure-loser in order to prop-up DeSantis as the main competitor against Trump. If any one has a chance against Trump, DeSantis is it
I admit your theory is possible, at least on the margins. The democrats, unlike the republicans, are capable of strategic thinking and can play the long game.
The ‘pubs lurch from one unforced error to another, like playing to their country-club and consultant cohort and being shocked when a thoughtful speech on the need for entitlement reform, made in the run up to the mid-terms, is used against them. Good thinking, Rick Scott. Somebody needs to buy them a brain.