(RepublicanInformer.com)- Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is attracting a lot of attention from some of the biggest Republican donors in the country, as rumors persist that he may end up launching a bid for president come 2024.
Politico recently conducted an analysis of data regarding campaign finance, finding that many of the top financiers of the re-election bid for former President Donald Trump are sending money DeSantis’ way.
Thus far, a political committee formed for the Florida governor, called Friends of Ron DeSantis, has brought in $3.4 million total from 10 donors who spent a combined $24 million on the re-election bid for Trump in 2020.
Most of these people hadn’t contributed to state elections in Florida before this cycle. And those who have contributed in the past significantly increased the amount they contributed this time around.
DeSantis is running for re-election as governor of Florida as part of the 2022 midterm elections.
While DeSantis has said that he’s focused on winning re-election as governor later this year, his impressive fundraising feats signal that he could be a really viable Republican candidate for president in two more years.
A long-time donor for the Republican Party, Francis Rooney, commented on the situation recently. He is a former congressman from Florida and also was open to Trump being impeached back in 2019. He said:
“I think Ron’s fundraising really speaks for itself. It is possible Trump’s percentage of the Republicans keeps going down, and I think it’s possible people will start looking elsewhere.”
DeSantis has already set a fundraising record for one Florida election cycle, raising more than $100 million to this point already. It’s a foregone conclusion that DeSantis will win re-election for governor, meaning he should be left with tons of cash at his disposal before the 2024 campaigns even start in earnest.
The Florida governor has gained a lot of national attention since the beginning of the pandemic, as he was staunchly opposed to the continued shutdown and masking measures that he believes were being forced upon people. He was once considered a potential running mate for Trump — should the latter decide to run for president — but now he’s seen as a strong candidate all on his own.
Looking ahead, the challenge for big-time Republican donors is who they would support in the primary should both DeSantis and Trump decide to run in 2024. Shiree Verdone, who served as the campaign co-chair for Trump in Arizona for both of his campaigns, commented recently:
“I know a lot of donors who are kind of in wait-and-see mode. They really, really like DeSantis, who is very popular, but you don’t want to upset Trump.”
Some of the biggest step-ups in fundraising for DeSantis this election cycle are Bernie Marcus, the founder of Home Depot, who contributed $500,000 — twice as much as he gave him back in 2018.
Phil Ruffin, a casino mogul in Las Vegas and a friend of Trump’s, also doubled his donation to DeSantis this time around, from $50,000 in 2018 to $100,000 this year.
