DeSantis’ Record Fundraising in Florida Boosted By Former Big Donors to Trump’s Re-election Campaign, Report Finds
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Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (R-FL) found some new friends in recent months as big-dollar donors to former President Donald Trump helped to boost the governor’s fundraising to over $100 million so far for his re-election bid.
“DeSantis has attracted the attention of some of the nation’s wealthiest Republican donors, including many who were key financiers of Trump’s reelection bid,” wrote Politico’s Matt Dixon, whose analysis of campaign finance data uncovered the Trump donors now supporting DeSantis.
Friends of Ron DeSantis, a political action committee supporting DeSantis’s reelection, took in more than $3.4 million from ten donors who gave some $24 million to support Trump’s reelection bid, reported Dixon. Most of those big-dollar donors had never made political contributions in Florida before and those who have been were significantly increasing their donations for DeSantis, Dixon added, further establishing DeSantis as the draw for these donors.
“I think Ron’s fundraising really speaks for itself,” longtime Republican donor and former Florida Congressman Francis Rooney (R-FL) told Politico, adding it was “possible Trump’s percentage of the Republicans keeps going down and I think it’s possible people will start looking elsewhere.”
DeSantis, who was elected by a razor-thin margin in 2018, is an overwhelming favorite for reelection in November and has set fundraising records so far, already banking over $100 million. Those funds can’t be directly used for a federal campaign like a presidential run but those resources can be used to continue to raise his profile.
Dixon notes that DeSantis already has several GOP mega-donors backing him. Ken Griffin, the billionaire founder of Chicago-based Citadel LLC, has donated some “$5 million in both the 2018 and 2022 election cycles,” notes Dixon. Griffin has also said he will not support or contribute to Trump anymore.
Other major Trump donors have begun to test the water with DeSantis, giving their first donation:
Texas oil baron Kelcy Warren, who spent $10 million backing Trump in 2020, has also given DeSantis $50,000, his first contribution to the governor. Another $35,000 has come from Larry Garatoni, an Indiana businessman who gave $500,000 to support Trump and has not previously given to DeSantis, and Geoffrey Palmer, a Los Angeles developer, has given DeSantis $20,000 this cycle. He spent $6 million in 2020 to help Trump’s reelection.
The Politico report coincided with a New Yorker profile of DeSantis that including observations about the growing animosity in Trump world toward the Florida governor.
“Trump World is working overtime to find ways to burn DeSantis down. They really hate him,” an insider of the former president told the New Yorker.
