DeSantis Announces $20 Million Fundraising Haul

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis raised $20 million since announcing his presidential bid May 24, which his campaign said was the largest first-quarter haul for a non-incumbent Republican in more than a decade.

The DeSantis campaign’s maiden fundraising exceeded the first two hauls – totaling $18.3 million – of former President Trump after his Nov. 15 announcement. The fundraising came amid an onslaught of negative headlines about his campaign and a barrage negativity from Donald Trump and his supporters.

Never Back Down, the super PAC backing DeSantis, told Fox News it raised $130 million since launching in early March. The PAC got an infusion of $80 million from DeSantis’s state committee that helped finance his 2022 reelection campaign.

Trump reported raising $35 million  in the second financial quarter that ended June 30. But that sum included money raised by Trump’s Save America political committee, so it wasn’t exactly comparable to the DeSantis presidential campaign’s fundraising.

Still, Trump’s fundraising was double his previous quarter’s haul and reflected the momentum he gained in the primary polls after the former president’s two indictments in April and June.