$25,000 gets donors a roundtable with Ron DeSantis in Ponte Vedra Beach

Gov. Ron DeSantis will close out November fundraising for his campaign account in his political home base, and donors willing to shell out serious money have a serious opportunity for face time with the candidate.

“At a location where his political career began, we knew there is no better place than Northeast Florida to help the Governor break November fundraising records for the campaign,” reads the email with the invitation.

DeSantis, who called Ponte Vedra Beach home for much of his tenure in Congress, will return to the Northeast Florida city for a fundraiser Nov. 30. And the event’s premium package comes with a big price tag.

For a $25,000 individual donation, attendees will get all three available options: Presence at a “roundtable” with DeSantis, a photo opportunity, and then attendance at a subsequent “fireside chat.”

Donors with more limited budgets still have options.

A contribution of $10,000 a couple or $5,000 a person gets the photo op and the fireside chat. Attendance at the fireside chat by itself is also a possibility, and donation levels there are $6,000 for a couple and $3,000 for an individual.

The Governor formally launched his re-election campaign early this month and downplayed the significance of the filing when asked about it at a press conference.

“Just stay tuned,” DeSantis said. “It’s more of a formality to open a campaign committee. We won’t do any public announcements until after the Special Session, but you have to prepare for these things.”

The Special Session is ongoing. But the special announcement clearly couldn’t wait. A “save the date” email earlier this week struck a similarly urgent tone.

“As you know, Governor DeSantis has officially opened his campaign committee and filed as a candidate for reelection. Northeast Florida is a very special place to the Governor – so we made sure it is one of the first big campaign stops! We need your strong support to hit our November goals,” the email continued, without adding insight as to what the goal number is.

DeSantis has three major Democratic opponents: U.S. Rep. Charlie Crist, Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried, and Sen. Annette Taddeo. But his fundraising thus far has exceeded what any of the potential challengers can amass.

His Friends of Ron DeSantis political committee was approaching $63 million cash on hand at the end of October, raising more than $4.65 million according to the latest report.

Democrats are losing ground in the money race every month, and the Ponte Vedra event likely will only increase the gap between the Governor and prospective General Election opponents.

Fried, who launched her campaign in June, leads the pack in fundraising with about $3.26 million on hand. That includes more than $414,000 she collected last month between her campaign and political committee, Florida Consumers First.

Crist is a close second. Between his campaign account and his Friends of Charlie Crist political committee, he had $3.18 million on hand at the end of October.

Taddeo added nearly $350,000 last month through her campaign and political committee, Fight Back Florida.

Unless the Democrats pick up their paces, DeSantis could match them and then some with an evening of handshakes and small group chats. That is the advantage of incumbency, specifically that enjoyed by DeSantis, who is a strong favorite for re-election by most metrics.