More On: November election
Before the November election, DeSantis gets a lot of money from people who gave money to Trump
A report says that former donors to President Donald Trump have given millions of dollars to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis for his re-election campaign. This could be a sign that some Trump supporters are looking for other candidates in the 2024 presidential race.
Politico looked at campaign finance data over the weekend and found that at least 10 donors who spent $24 million on Trump's 2020 re-election campaign have since given about $3.4 million to Friends of Ron DeSantis, the political committee for the Republican governor.
The study found that many of the well-known donors had never given money to a Florida state election. People who had already given money to the Sunshine State gave many more dollars.
Some of the donors are: William Buckley, who gave the governor $1 million during DeSantis' 2018 campaign; Richard Uihlein, who gave DeSantis $1.2 million this year, which is a huge increase from the $700,000 he gave in 2018; Bernie Marcus, the founder of Home Depot, who gave $500,000; and Steven Witkoff and Willis Johnson, who each gave $100,000.
The Sunday report says that donors who gave a lot of money to Trump in 2020, like Kelcy Warren, Larry Garatoni, and Geoffrey Palmer, have also given between $20,000 and $50,000 to DeSantis in the past year.
The money comes at a time when DeSantis is running for re-election in November. So far, the governor has raised more than $100 million for this election.
He has been talked about as a top Republican candidate for president in 2024, if the current president doesn't run again.
Trump isn't likely to say for sure if he will run for president again until after the midterm elections, but he has hinted at it many times and still thinks he could win if he did.
“I don’t know if Ron is running, and I don’t ask him,” the 45th president told The New Yorker in a Monday report. “It’s his prerogative. I think I would win.”
Despite the confidence, many Republicans believe DeSantis has a shot at the Oval Office.
“I think Ron’s fundraising really speaks for itself,” longtime Republican donor and former Florida Congressman Francis Rooney told Politico.
“It is possible Trump’s percentage of Republicans keeps going down and I think it’s possible people will start looking elsewhere.”
At the Western Conservative Summit earlier this month, a quick poll of the candidates for president in 2024 showed that DeSantis was ahead of the former president.
Trump got 71 percent of the attendees' approval, while the governor got 74 percent. At 29 percent, Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas was the next most likely GOP candidate.
But Trump's campaign isn't scared.
Spokesperson Taylor Budowich told Politico on Sunday that “like other candidates who have been propelled to victory thanks to the endorsement of President Trump, Governor DeSantis is among a large group of elected officials from across the country who continue to benefit from President Trump’s MAGA movement.”
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