Mr. October: Ron DeSantis committee posts biggest fundraising month of 2019
Gov. Ron DeSantis at Ariel University, 2019. [Photo: A.G. Gancarski]

israeli trip - desantis university
Megadonors ponied up.

Gov. Ron DeSantis, a baseball player at Yale, established himself as “Mr. October,” with his best fundraising in the month since his campaign last year.

The Governor’s Friends of Ron DeSantis political committee raised nearly $835,000 in October off of 134 individual contributions.

All told, the account has $3,322,000 on hand.

Notable contributors include Richard Uihlein, described by POLITICO as “the biggest Republican megadonor you’ve never heard of.”

Uihelin, who donates across the country to “move the debate,” gave the Governor’s committee $200,000.

Cherna Moskowitz, noted by Haaretz as one of the major players in Jerusalem, donated $100,000.

Moskowitz, according to her LinkedIn profile, “serves as president of the Irving I. Moskowitz Foundation and is on the board of Nefesh B’Nefesh, The Ariel University Center, ZOA, JINSA and Bar Ilan University, and Hesder Yeshiva of Sderot.”

More from Ha’aretz: “The Moskowitz family has donated millions to a string of Israeli causes, including the Weizmann Institute and Ariel University in the West Bank. They are also the financial powerhouse behind Ateret Cohanim, the fast-expanding East Jerusalem yeshiva, and have funded building projects throughout East Jerusalem, including the Muslim Quarter of the Old City, Silwan and Ras al-Amud.”

During the Enterprise Florida trade delegation trip to Israel this year, DeSantis made a stopover at Ariel University, the first visit by an American Governor to the university.

The Ariel visit was one laden with significance, especially if DeSantis harbors Presidential ambitions.

Dr. Miriam and Sheldon Adelson were at that event, with Dr. Adelson calling DeSantis a “warrior.”

Beyond these big donations, the DeSantis committee received a swath of donations from optometrists and optometrist political committees throughout the state.

However, the most eye-popping donations in October were from the kinds of names that show DeSantis’ political future may take him back to Washington, in one capacity or another.

A.G. Gancarski

A.G. Gancarski has written for FloridaPolitics.com since 2014. He is based in Northeast Florida. He can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter: @AGGancarski


2 comments

  • Sonja Emily Fitch

    November 11, 2019 at 6:24 pm

    IT IS SOOOO OBVIOUS THAT goptrummp CULT MAN OF FLORIDA DESANTIS IS ALSO THE FRONT FOR THE MONEY OF THE goptrump Cult.
    So is it pay to play if Desantis takes the money to be a stooge of the goptrump Cult? just asking….Does Desantis also take from the Q anon kooks? Listen for the chants from Desantis, Gaetz and the other goptrump Cult….”biden” “biden” “2016” “hillary” “biden”. thats the best they have..lol

  • Susie Who?

    November 11, 2019 at 7:02 pm

    DeSantis raised another $375K in the first 4 days of November.

    Gillum’s Forward Florida October report is due no later than tomorrow.

Comments are closed.


#FlaPol

Florida Politics is a statewide, new media platform covering campaigns, elections, government, policy, and lobbying in Florida. This platform and all of its content are owned by Extensive Enterprises Media.

Publisher: Peter Schorsch @PeterSchorschFL

Contributors & reporters: Phil Ammann, Drew Dixon, Roseanne Dunkelberger, A.G. Gancarski, Anne Geggis, Ryan Nicol, Jacob Ogles, Cole Pepper, Gray Rohrer, Jesse Scheckner, Christine Sexton, Drew Wilson, and Mike Wright.

Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @PeterSchorschFL
Phone: (727) 642-3162
Address: 204 37th Avenue North #182
St. Petersburg, Florida 33704




Sign up for Sunburn


Categories