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Florida Republican Governor Ron DeSantis has raised more than $218 million in his re-election campaign, according to campaign financial disclosures filed Friday and seen by the Financial Times, breaking the record for a governor’s fundraising ever, and suggesting the possibility of a Presidential elections in 2024.
key facts
DeSantis’ $218 million fundraiser breaks the $176 million fundraising total of former Hewlett-Packard CEO Meg Whitman’s 2010 failed bid in California, and Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker billionaire who raised $176 million in 2018.
That’s more than 12 times more than what his Democratic challenger, former Florida Representative Charlie Crist, raised $17 million as of Friday, according to campaign finance website FollowTheMoney.
DeSantis was planning to raise $200 million in his campaign, nearly four times the $58 million he raised during the 2018 campaign, a source close to DeSantis told CNN in July, with any remaining money from the Viceroy’s campaign going to the PAC supercommittee. , which does not. No cap on contributions.
DeSantis dodged questions about a possible 2024 presidential campaign, which could put him on a preliminary course against former President Donald Trump.
Trump has yet to commit to running, but he told radio host Hugh Hewitt Thursday that he wouldn’t have a “ban on running” even if he was indicted in the Justice Department’s criminal investigation into classified documents he took to his Florida home in Mar-a-Lago.
main background
DeSantis was elected in 2018 on a pro-Trump platform, and has come into the national spotlight for denouncing Covid-19 mask mandates, his hardline extremism on immigration and frequent interviews on Fox News. Tensions between DeSantis and Trump have risen in recent months, despite the Florida governor’s refusal to say whether he will run for president, and after Trump announced his response to the rising cases of Covid-19 last winter, when the state became the epicenter. from the omicron outbreak. In April, DeSantis told the podcast “Ruthless” and lamented not speaking “out louder” against Trump’s calls for a pandemic-related shutdown. Opinion polls have been mixed on Republicans’ preferences in a hypothetical 2024 match between DeSantis and Trump. A hypothetical YouGov poll last month showed DeSantis down one point to Biden (36% to 35%), while Biden, who said he still plans to run, has a three-point lead over Trump (39% to 36%). About 55% of Republican voters in an Emerson College poll in July said they would support Trump as the GOP nominee in 2024, more than DeSantis (20%) and former Vice President Mike Pence (5%). However, a June University of New Hampshire poll showed that 39% of Republicans want DeSantis to outperform Trump (37%).
the shadow
Florida’s governor made headlines on Wednesday when he approved two planes carrying 50 Venezuelan immigrants to Martha’s Vineyard, off Cape Cod, as part of a broader Republican initiative to ship illegal immigrants from the Mexican border to thesafe haven“In the blue states. Airport officials said Forbes They had no notice of immigrants on the charter planes, which made several stops to refuel on their way from San Antonio, Texas, including one in Crestview, Florida, according to flight-tracking company FlightAware. DeSantis has earmarked $12 million from the Florida budget to ship immigrants north, including to Delaware, the home state of President Joe Biden.
in-depth reading
Representative Krist resigns before showdown with DeSantis: Loss of key to the Democratic House (Forbes)
DeSantis raises more than $100 million for re-election — will he fund the 2024 presidential bid? (Forbes)
Ron DeSantis breaks fundraising record for US governor’s campaign (Financial Times)
