Ron DeSantis’ first month of re-election campaign draws $1.5 million

Thousands of supporters were waiting with their checkbooks for Gov. Ron DeSantis to officially begin his 2022 re-election campaign last month.

Starting with a $100,000 opening check from the Republican Party of Florida and including 11,000 other donations, DeSantis’ pulled in $1,490,429 to kick off his campaign.

That’s on top of the $4,531,294 collected in November by his independent political committee, Friends of Ron DeSantis, which essentially has been running his re-election campaign until he formally filed to open an official account on Nov. 5.

The combined $6 million month all but made a mockery of fundraising efforts by his Democratic rivals in the 2022 election campaign. U.S. Rep. Charlie Crist, a former Governor from back when he was a Republican, collected a combined $805,000 for his campaign and political committee in November. Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried collected $216,000. Sen. Annette Taddeo‘s November efforts have not yet been posted but are likely to fall in size between Fried’s and Crist’s bounties.

The RPOF largely stayed away from assisting DeSantis’ predecessor Rick Scott in his 2014 gubernatorial re-election campaign. The party is sending a different message regarding DeSantis, writing a $100,000 check the day he opened his account, and providing another $130,000 in in-kind staff support in that first month.

DeSantis received more than 11,000 donations in his first month on the trail.

In November, he received 282 checks of the maximum $3,000 amount. He received 409 checks of at least $1,000.

Yet, he also received more than 9,000 small donations of less than $100.

The big checks came most commonly from real estate and construction interests, retirees, lawyers, and lobbyists. DeSantis got at least 50 four-figure checks totaling more than $132,000 from real estate, construction and development interests. He received 58 four-figure checks for a total of more than $115,000 from people who said they were retired. Those identifying themselves variously as lawyers, law firms, lobbyists, political consultants, and government relations kicked in 48 four-figure checks totaling $112,000.

The Governor received more than 342 donations from Jacksonville addresses, totaling $230,000. Tallahassee provided 154 contributions, good for $221,000, and his hometown of Ponte Vedra Beach was the third most reliable location of his early financial backers, in total dollars, with 73 donations totaling $77,000.

The fourth was Brooklyn, New York. Several real estate and automotive firms in that New York City borough wrote him $3,000 checks, heading toward a total of $35,000 just from Brooklyn.

DeSantis’ campaign collected more than $1.2 million from Floridians in November.

Including that Brooklyn money, he got another $350,000 from out of state, with New Yorkers and Texans each putting in a little more than $40,000, and Virginians and Californians each sending him more than $19,000.

DeSantis’ campaign got at least one donation from someone in every state, plus Washington D.C. and Puerto Rico.