Court battles usually are drawn out affairs.
DeSantis is not going to wait for developments in the court case. He’s got more than 50 primaries to run, typically at least one per week. This means every week he’s going to give a speech that includes something about “fighting woke Disney”. This means local coverage every week in whichever state he’s campaigning in.
It doesn’t matter if it’s RCID or the residents who file the lawsuit. DeSantis will make it about Disney.
DeSantis is going to milk this. Even though Iger does not want to make this political, DeSantis will make sure that it is.
We talk about DeSantis potentially being gone in less than 2 years. Iger is supposed to be gone in less than 2 years too. Does Iger want this to be still going on when Iger leaves? Does Iger want an ongoing lawsuit with the state of Florida to be part of his legacy? Or does Iger have more urgent issues to address, most of which have little to do with Florida?
Iger can fight this but if he does, it likely will not be settled before Iger is scheduled to retire.
Disney eventually will win, one way or another. It’s up to Iger to decide when and how.