Jacob Ogles
While Gov. Ron DeSantis technically hasn’t filed for reelection, a political committee supporting his ambitions has raised more in August than those supporting his Democratic opponents have brought in all year.
Friends of Ron DeSantis reported raising $4.92 million from Aug. 1 through Friday. By comparison, Friends of Charlie Crist and Florida Consumers First, committees respectively supporting Democratic candidates Charlie Crist and Nikki Fried, raised a combined $3,249,970 this year through the same date.
And that’s before the close of the month. There’s a possibility the total intake for the committee (dating back to before DeSantis’ 2018 gubernatorial campaign) could exceed $100 million this or next month.
The bottom line? Even after paying $682,920 in bills this month, the committee sits on $52,604,242 in cash on hand.
DeSantis this weekend appeared at a fundraising event with high-power donors in New Jersey. While he’s dodging questions about the sojourn at news conferences, expect the FORD team to anxiously disclose a rush of donations when full August reports come due.
Of note, in comparison to Democrats, the political committee remains the singular significant war chest for the Republican’s reelection run in 2022 until he formally files. Crist, meanwhile, reported $851,936 through the end of July on top of $1,765,690 pulled in by his committee, and he will likely report more August donations to his campaign when reports come due Sept. 10. Fried, likewise, raised $26,672 to her official campaign through July in addition to FCF’s 1,484,280 this calendar year through Aug. 27.
But even combined, the Democrats’ financial resources pale against that available to the incumbent.
DeSantis has enjoyed a surge in small-donor interest from across the country. The committee so far reported 8,113 individual donations in August (plus 32 refunds), including 6,606 donations of less than $100 and 7,754 for under $1,000.
But the bulk of dollars come from a limited number of major donors. A full $1.75 million comes courtesy of eight donors. Of that, $500,000 alone comes from the Republican Governors Association.
Another $300,000 comes from WeatherTech founder David MacNeil, who has donated generously to DeSantis before. Uline founders Elizabeth and Richard Uihlein gave a combined $500,000 to the committee. Caneel Capital Group manager Sasha Averdick (and wife of TASA CEO Tyler Averdick) donated $150,000.
Meanwhile, companies Dynamic Commerce, South Development, and McNitt Management donated $100,000 each.
19 comments
Peterh
August 30, 2021 at 1:50 pm
Certainly there should be no mask mandate requirement in some isolated rural community in Oklahoma or elsewhere. Let the rural communities make their own decisions!
However, when incompetent governors make blanket statements for entire states they should expect court cases and push back.
COVID is not ‘magically going away in the Spring’ with warmer weather. The virus is looking for a host. The virus is targeting the unvaccinated. AND … the longer Covid migrates through world wide communities….. the greater the chance of more virulent and deadly variants.
Today, the EU has imposed a mandatory proof of Covid vaccine for American travelers. This means that the airlines departing the USA ….flying to the EU …..will be requiring proof of vaccine BEFORE AMERICANS CAN GET ON A JET. If vaccine intransigence continues….at some point vaccine passports will be required in restaurants, shopping malls, grocery stores, movie theaters and all cruise ships. The unvaccinated have no constitutional right to disrupt American commerce.
Alex
August 30, 2021 at 1:52 pm
Send all your money to DeSantis so he can mislead you into endangering and killing yourselves and the rest of the country for “muh freedumbs!”
JD
August 30, 2021 at 8:10 pm
How about that. Wasn’t there just a conversation about SuperPACs and PACs allowing elites to control the political narrative by out shouting everyone else? Affiliations aside and I’m not advocating for one side or the other, but $52M is a lot of shouting next to $3M. Level the field and let candidates win or lose on their merits not their war chest. The system is systemically flawed in this regard.
Sonja Fitch
August 31, 2021 at 5:01 am
Duh!!! Ain’t no surprise that Duffus Desantis is raising money on Floridians sick and dying ! Lousy sob continues to place our children in harms way! Lock up Duffus Desantis! Governor is not above the law!!! Get out Desantis!
Tom
August 31, 2021 at 8:04 am
You are allowed to raise money and you can raise it out of state. No violation. Nothing improper being done. Also note you Dum tards, the Gov has over 8,000 individual contributors. Incredible.
What a bunch of babies. Yes, wait and see when the Govs message is paid for around the state.
Nikki Fraud or Crispy critters will feel the heat!
Peter h you can’t defend your predator org.
Crooks and pedophile led.
JD
August 31, 2021 at 9:01 am
DeSantis popularity truly isn’t my issue. It’s with SuperPACs and PACs.
It’s their use that creates an uneven playing field by allowing donations from large and wealthy donors. It potentially taints a win by DeSantis, because the campaign may no longer be on his merit of governance vs his competitors, but rather the populaces actually knowing a name on the ballet.
As for 8000+ individual contributes, that’s nationwide. I question the metrics importance at that scale (out of 330M+), given his recent national attention. I guess for an out of state governor it’s respectable, but he’s the darling of CPAC. So he’s not unknown.
And there is precedent that Legal does not mean Ethical.
Grimshaw v. Ford Motor Company, 1981 proved this with the exploding Pinto case when they calculated it was cheaper to payout the lawsuits than fix the car. There’s others (3M’s ScotchGuard comes to mind).
And it still doesn’t address the elites ability to control SuperPACs, PACs and dictate a big chunk of our governance.
In short, I don’t give a shit if DeSantis wins or not. I want it to be a fair win. I feel fair wins are tantamount to liberal democracy and a democratic republic.
“For the People. By the People.”
Tom
August 31, 2021 at 9:37 am
Hey JD.
I can say that about you and your diatribe. Don’t try to confuse the subject.
Peter H comes on here and lectures everyone about your org. In Which is corrupt. He is the one telling everyone how his org is the one to lake the difference. Your desire for some sort of pureness is naive.
Gov. DeSantis is not doing anything inappropriate. He is raising money lawfully. The legal not ethical is offensive. This ain’t the pinto case.
The 8000 is significant as it demonstrates a following.
Don’t lecture anybody about your elites. You mean CBS, NBC, CNN, ABC, Wash Post, LA Times, George Soros org, Newsweek, And countless other lefties org. and individuals.
If you care so much about fair elections, you should be very concerned with Pelosi’s efforts to nationalize/federalize elections. HR 1 is a Dem election protection program.
Spare me your outrage.
JD
August 31, 2021 at 10:38 am
Hey Tom,
Spare your double standards – I’ve been reading this blog for a good while, but seldom posted until recently. I have seen where you lecture others and condemn elites, but here on this comment go and say it’s ok if it’s for your guy.
And 8000 isn’t a following out of 330M – it’s not even a piss in the bucket.
And I never said I was in PeterH’s org. The Lincoln Project issues are their own. And I don’t agree with how their organization’s management and spending issues were handled.
There isn’t a damn thing wrong for a want of ethics and fairness. Furthermore, I did not accuse Desantis of doing something unethical. I accused SuperPACs of doing so by their design and it taints his win. It seems you are the one trying and confuse others with distractions.
A win using this method and money taints the win. It’s like allowing the flunked should be high school kid play on the middle school team – it gives an unfair advantage because the kid is so big.
Your just trying to deflect from the fact that Desantis is benefiting from the elites’ contributions to SuperPACs and what I said could detract from that win.
And yes, all those companies mentioned, the owners could be constituted as “elites”. And their influence out shouts our democracy. The removal of the Truth Doctrine and the Wall Street buy out of the news media lead to what we have now – for profit news centers swaying politics for their own advantage.
But to gripe about Elites on one hand and then condone it when it benefits “your boy” is hypocritical. Hypocrisy is truly offensive.
So save me your rhetorical bullshit. If it’s not absolutely for your party lines, you try to tear it down.
I wasn’t rude before, but I will be now. Nearly every comment you make is overwhelming negative, derogatory, and offensive. You add nearly nothing to solutions, but only want to divide. I’ve seen inklings of thought and knowledge, but then you ruin with abrasive, rude, and derogatory comments based on assumptions.
Go one “with your bad self” and keep being a borderline asshole. I am sure it will help with your causes.
Tom
August 31, 2021 at 1:43 pm
Hey JD.
I can say that about you and your diatribe. Don’t try to confuse the subject.
Peter H comes on here and lectures everyone about your org. In Which is corrupt. He is the one telling everyone how his org is the one to make the difference. Your desire for some sort of pureness is naive.
Gov. DeSantis is not doing anything inappropriate. He is raising money lawfully. The legal not ethical is offensive. This ain’t the pinto case. The 8000 is significant as it demonstrates a following.
Don’t lecture anybody about your elites. You mean CBS, NBC, CNN, ABC, Wash Post, LA Times, George Soros org, Newsweek, And countless other lefties org. and individuals.
If you care so much about fair elections, you should be very concerned with Pelosi’s efforts to nationalize/federalize elections. HR 1 is a Dem election protection program.
Spare me your fake outrage. LMAO.
JD
August 31, 2021 at 2:01 pm
Hey Tom,
I see you don’t have anything left in the tank other than some minor edits?
Here’s a repeat of my own with an additional qualifier. YOUR hypocrisy is truly offensive. And LMAO.
Tom
August 31, 2021 at 2:19 pm
Spare us, you sound like Abbott instead of JB. Regardless, who you may be, its not unlawful to collect monies for millionaire and to have a super pac. Period, end of story. The taint is from corrupt org such as Lincoln project and peter h.
The Governor has all info reported. Typical deranged thinking from lib tard like you. You pathetic hypocrite.
The Govs info is all public record.
Where is your outrage of Niki the Frauds, dishonesty on her financial earnings. You have a lot of nerve. She’s a fraud crook. Direct your fake outrage towards the Dem protection bill, Illegals voting, mass unauthorized mailings, ballot bunching. HR 1, is a partisan hack bill.
Yes you are an elite aristocrat or a want a be.
Have you read the poison filth from your brethren haters? Alex, peter h, Hoffmann, Abbott, you, Frankie, Sonja, and many more. Spare me.
I’ll shove it down all your throats.
I suffer you Manchurian lib tards gladly. List of 8000 for a Governor is a very high number. You try genius. He’s not a national candidate, yet!
Dumb ass partisan like you don’t get to call this a taint! I’m good with the process as is. It’s you and peter h with the hate for for our democracy. Spare me you hater!
JD, IF You See Kay, tell her Y O U. Pal
Go scratch!
JD
August 31, 2021 at 2:47 pm
Hey Tom,
LMAO.
I want make a correction. You’re not a borderline asshole. You are a full on batshit crazy asshole.
Again legal is not the same as ethical.
I said I didn’t like SuperPACs and you went all batshit, yelling about other people that aren’t even in the conversation. Seriously? Whatever.
As for the other shit you were bitching about, did I even imply I condoned it? Any of it? No. You made an assumption that I am aligned (or am) somebody else you don’t agree with. If you cannot defend your position without “shoving it down someone’s throat” your don’t even belong on the playground.
Our government setup, while not perfect, is the probably the best we have. And I my outrage is to protect it. HR1, Republic voting bills, and SuperPACs are all bullshit. I was fine with the process before they were introduced. So go fuck yourself in that regard. I won’t back down.
As for your CRAZY tirad when someone calls your argument out, it’s a poor tactic.
So you go enjoy what are obviously Taliban like radicalized meetings. No sane person gets as crazy as you just did.
At the end of the day, I just hope Gov Ron doesn’t mind you up his ass so much because you obviously can taste what he had for lunch. But maybe it will get that taste out of your mouth from the circle “activity” cracker you ended up eating from your Radicalized Republican Closet Bear meeting. LMAO.
Go pound sand You RepubliTard.
Tom
August 31, 2021 at 3:46 pm
Busted your libtard balls. Nice try Abbott. I could care less what you think.
Whiz kid DeSantis, America’s Gov will whiz on you and all other haters on Nov/22. Florida media and Libtard national are frightened of him. Just like the rest of you little Manchurians.
Go scratch yourself and all other A- holes. You Dummycrats love to dish it out and you can’t take it.
I’ll bust you and all the other Haters.
None of you can run with me Pal.
Go scratch. Spare us your libtard dissertations.
JD
August 31, 2021 at 4:12 pm
LMAO
All this talk of whiz and balls, you obviously have an obsession for Gov Ron’s Whiz and apparently people’s balls, you weirdo. I’d say a real cuckservative extremist nutjob.
And nobody wants to run with you, trust me. Me, Abbott, PeterH or any of the others you named. Because you are rude, insane, and suffering from psychosis.
Go pound sand.
Tom
August 31, 2021 at 5:12 pm
JD or Abbott go smoke some cannabis with corrupt Nikki Fraud. Go check on her corrupt financial dealings with her past illegals earnings. Talk about a dishonest taint, it’s Dem N. Fraud.
You started this with your holier than though “taint’ corruption issue. You can taint my ass. You are a loser like the rest of your ManchurianS. You ignore the taint corrupt issue of HR 1, Pelosi and Schumer’s Dem corrupt campaign preservation issue.
I hope America’s Gov raises a $100,000,000 million so whiz kid Gov, can whiz on you.
JD
August 31, 2021 at 5:29 pm
Again with the pee. Seriously man, you got a problem with water sports.
LMAO, you taint. You taint a Republican nor a Conservative.
I got to meet this Abbott person that makes you so pissed off the elitist in you shows.
There wasn’t anything holier than thou about it. It was tryst against SuperPACs and you assumed taint = corruption. If there’s a guilty conscious it’s on you PAL.
And as for Fried, I think I just saw an article where she amended her stuff, but yes, it looks inappropriate and like something shady is going on. But as you said, it’s all of public record too.
And, you ignored my remarks about HR1. Bias blindness as you lump everyone together. Throw some more shit with Pelosi or Schumer like I am not aware of their faults.
How’s that sand pounding? LOL
OK, I’m done. You’re obviously in need of some meds and I need to find a different hobby. Fuck off.
Tom
August 31, 2021 at 5:45 pm
F. You See Kay, tell her Y O U.
Yes defend the corrupt Dums.
Defend corrupt Fraud and H R 1.
She’s weeks late and she
Is going to be investigated.
You Are a pud!
Busted your balls.
Go call Abbott, he’s a PUD like you.
LMAO.
JD
August 31, 2021 at 5:54 pm
Lastword
Tom
September 1, 2021 at 7:56 am
Governor Ron, America’s Governor wins bigly! Cry eye Abbott or JD or both. LMAO.
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