Florida Governor Ron DeSantis speaking at Liberty University on April 14, 2023 – Courtesy: Shutterstock – Image by The Old Major
Over the last three months, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis raised $15 million for his Republican presidential campaign.
The DeSantis team also informed Fox News that it would be transferring personnel from Florida to Iowa, where the GOP presidential primary calendar’s first event on January 15 is the Iowa caucuses.
When the campaign revealed their fundraising totals for the third quarter of 2023, which runs from July to September, they boasted that they “shattered expectations.”
After a string of failures over the summer, which led to weeks of bad coverage highlighting his campaign’s expenditures, staff layoffs, change in leadership, and other problems, DeSantis has been attempting to reverse the narrative.
“This significant fundraising haul not only provides us with the resources we need in the fight for Iowa and beyond, but it also shuts down the doubters who counted out Ron DeSantis for far too long,” campaign manager James Uthmeier said in a statement.
On Wednesday, a third of the DeSantis campaign crew, including key political and communications figures, were informed that they would be traveling to Iowa for a brief period of time. DeSantis has spent the majority of the past two months campaigning in Iowa as he strives for a strong finish in a bid to emerge as the leading challenger to former President Donald Trump, who is the undisputed front-runner in the GOP primary race as he makes his third consecutive run for the White House.
The New York Times broke the news first, and Fox News later confirmed it.
Many of the conventional operations and fundamental responsibilities done by a presidential campaign, like as grassroots outreach and event planning and coordination, have been taken over by the DeSantis-aligned super PAC Never Back Down.
Once firmly in second place in the GOP presidential primary contest for 2024, DeSantis has seen his support decline in recent months as Trump has widened his advantage over the Florida governor.
Nikki Haley, a former governor of South Carolina who served as the Trump administration’s ambassador to the UN, has just surpassed DeSantis in some polls in New Hampshire and South Carolina, two other critical early-voting states.
However, according to the DeSantis political team, recent fundraising data from his campaign, leadership PAC, and joint fundraising committee show that the situation has stabilized.
“Thanks to the generous support of Americans looking for a leader who will deliver results, this campaign is built to last and win,” Uthmeier emphasized. “Ron DeSantis is the only candidate in this race who can beat both Donald Trump and Joe Biden, revive our economy, secure the border, make America energy dominant, and end the weaponization of government once and for all.”
The DeSantis team highlighted that the revelation of his “narrative-defying third quarter comes as he enters October firmly on offense,” citing the favorable feedback DeSantis received at last week’s second Republican presidential nomination debate.
It also highlighted DeSantis’ “three new forward-looking policies” on the economy, faith, and energy, as well as the fact that the governor has “campaigned at a break-neck pace.”
By Monday, DeSantis will have visited 74 of Iowa’s 99 counties, according to the campaign.
But DeSantis raised $20 million during the second fundraising quarter, compared to the $15 million haul over the last three months. Additionally, a large portion of the revenue collected during the third quarter is designated for general elections, thus it cannot be used to support the impending Republican presidential primaries.
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Mike has more than 30 years of experience in marketing and public relations. He once owned his own agency and has worked with some of the largest brands in the world.
