Legislators Raise $500K For DeSantis in Telethon, But Presidential Campaign Hopes For More: ‘Let’s Go Guys!’

Florida state legislators raised more than $500,000 at last week’s fundraising telethon for Gov. Ron DeSantis’s presidential campaign, according to an internal email obtained by The Messenger that shows 37 of the 98 lawmakers who endorsed the governor dialed for dollars on his behalf at the event.

The telethon, part of a renewed push by DeSantis’s campaign to get “more meat off the bone” in Florida from donors, was billed as a friendly competition to see who would travel to Wednesday presidential debate in Milwaukee with the candidate.

A spreadsheet attachment tallying the fundraising from each member indicates that only two senators of the 40-member chamber participated in the event, and campaign manager James Uthmeier appeared to hope for more.

“We still have too many participants that haven’t lifted off yet… let’s go guys!” according to the Sunday evening email to lawmakers, sent on Uthmeier’s behalf by campaign adviser Stephanie Kopelousos, who was DeSantis’s legislative affairs director.

That email listed $400,000 as the figure raised. But more donations flooded in and, the campaign said after this story published, that the total raised was $500,000.

"We are beyond grateful that many of the 99 Florida legislators who have endorsed this campaign stepped up last week to raise nearly $500,000 and counting for Ron DeSantis," spokesman Andrew Romeo said in a written statement. "The Governor raised more than any candidate in the field - including a current and former president - and we look forward to continuing to pursue innovative strategies to raise the resources necessary to spread to as many voters as possible his message to reverse our decline and revive America."

A spokeswoman for Florida Senate President Kathleen Passidomo and her designated successor, Ben Albritton, said the two Republicans had family events to attend to and couldn’t attend. But the absence of fundraising from some other senators was no accident.

“A lot of us endorsed Ron because we had to. He’s got three more [legislative] sessions. He can veto our stuff. He’s still the governor. And you can see he’s watching,” said one Republican legislator who endorsed DeSantis but declined to speak on the record for fear of retribution.

“The fact of the matter is a lot of us pitched in behind Ron and he still went crazy with the veto pen. He’s not a friendly guy. And now that he’s losing to [former President Donald] Trump, we’re supposed to help him out. It rubs a lot of people the wrong way. You reap what you sow.”

The Florida Senate is traditionally a more moderate body when compared to the Florida House, which accounted for 99 percent of the fundraising haul, according to the attached spreadsheet.

State Rep. Michael Caruso raised the most ($47,420) followed by Florida House Speaker Paul Renner ($41,550), according to a spreadsheet attachment tallying how much each legislator raised.

Legislators appeared to focus on raising so-called “hard dollars,” checks of $11,600 total that come from individual donors. Corporations can give unlimited “soft money” to independent political committees but not federal candidates.

Uthmeier indicated lawmakers will be asked to raise more in the coming months. “We do hope that all of our endorsers will work to hit the $10,000 goal and look forward to working with you to get there. It can come in the form of 1 donation (maximum amount that can be contributed is $11,600 per person), or many smaller amounts,” the email said. “If you made personal donations prior to this competition, those will be added to your goal amount.”