As he gears up for a potential 2024 presidential campaign, Gov. Ron DeSantis’ political committee raised nearly $10 million in February, according to a finance report posted Friday on the state Division of Elections website.
The Friends of Ron DeSantis committee collected $9,982,056, including seven contributions of $1 million or more. That included $2.5 million from Pennsylvania investment manager Jeff Yass and $1.3 million from Utah businessman Gregory Cook, according to the report.
The committee, which plays a key role in DeSantis’ political operation, had about $82.4 million in cash on hand as of Feb. 28.
How much does former President Donald Trump have?
According to the latest Federal Election Commission (FEC) reports, the DONALD J. TRUMP FOR PRESIDENT 2024, INC., has $3,020, 902.11 cash on hand, the Make America Great Again, Again PAC has $4,519,155.11, And the Make America Great Again Action PAC has $720,456.66 cash on hand.
DeSantis, who is expected to announce his presidential candidacy in early May, holds a significant fundraising advantage over President Trump, but it is still too early to tell if DeSantis will have to spend the bulk of that mountain of cash to get name recognition in all the early primary states?
Trump can turn on the fundraising spigot at any moment, but will the defections from his Republican donor base to Team DeSantis hurt the former President’s campaign bottom line?
The most recent public opinion polls have Trump leading DeSantis by 15 percentage points or more but expect DeSantis to receive a bit of a bump once he officially announces in May.
Right now it appears as polling shows that Republican voters want to see and know more about DeSantis, but still support Trump.
At a recent book tour stop in Naples, Florida, The Floridian spoke to a couple of attendees who stated that they “love Ron DeSantis, but we voted for Trump in 2020.”
DeSantis and Trump will be pulling from the same base of support in Florida and it looks as if DeSantis is leading Trump across the board. Trump dominated Florida polls over the past several years, but not anymore.
Publisher Javier Manjarres contributed to this News Service of Florida story.
