I agree that Cuomo is the most comparable if we're talking about demeanor and style of governance.
But if we take a different approach, my first thought was Whitmer. DeSantis is a governor of a large Tilt/Lean R state who is extremely popular among Republicans but became a national lightning rod for Democratic criticism during COVID. With regard to his personality and his ideology, he's a pretty good representation of what the GOP seems to favor these days; he has Trump-like characteristics but is a little more restrained, and he loves capitalizing on flavor-of-the-month culture war issues and playing to right-wing media. Whitmer is a governor of a large Tilt/Lean D state who is extremely popular among Democrats but became a national lightning rod for Republican criticism during COVID. With regard to her personality and ideology, she's a pretty good representation of what the Democratic Party seems to favor these days; she governs very much like a run-of-the-mill center-left politician (not unlike, say, Biden) and really plays up her "relatable suburban mom" persona, reflecting the party's increasing reliance on suburban women.
And, of course, both would presumably be viable national candidates in the future, although I'm not sure I see Whitmer wanting to make the jump.
(I know the original post is asking for a politician who is popular with the base and has crossover appeal, but I don't really know why that's being deemed the "Democratic DeSantis." I'm not convinced he's capable of outrunning the Republican baseline in FL by more than a few points.)
Outside of Trump obviously,he is second most liked R in the country pretty easily
Poll
