Ron DeSantis starts fundraising off ‘Stop W.O.K.E Act’

Don’t like critical race theory? Gov. Ron DeSantis wants your money. For re-election that is.

DeSantis sent an afternoon e-mail blast from his campaign trumpeting his “Stop W.O.K.E. Act.”

That phrase stands for the “Stop Wrongs Against Our Kids and Employees Act.” The bill would allow people to bring causes of action against schools and corporations for teaching so-called critical race theory.

DeSantis unveiled the bill’s major points at a press conference Wednesday morning in Wildwood, and the afternoon saw a distillation of points for the donor set.

“The adoption of woke ideologies like Critical Race Theory is the left’s latest method to delegitimize America’s institutions and our founding principles,” DeSantis said, using rhetoric similar to that used earlier in the day.

“From schools to corporations, Democrats are working to indoctrinate our nation’s youth with hatred — hatred towards one another and towards America. If they’re successful, it will rot our nation to the core,” DeSantis warned.

The Governor billed the proposal as a move to “outlaw Critical Race Theory and other racist indoctrination tactics in businesses and schools, AND to give individuals tools to fight back when these laws are broken.”

“I still believe we live in a nation that has values we can be proud of, and I refuse to allow Democrats to poison our society into hating one another based on race using their radical woke teachings. But the fight is just getting started –– and we need your help to win,” DeSantis urged.

DeSantis has invested a lot of political capital in critical race theory in recent months. The Governor’s Board of Education banned it in classroom instruction this summer, and DeSantis has vowed to get involved in school board races next year.

Even though it’s banned in Florida schools, it is clear DeSantis sees that as just the beginning of the push against what he calls “woke ideologies” and “cultural Marxism.”

Meanwhile, his campaign is using arguments like this to pad a formidable fundraising advantage. He reported raising about $6 million in November between his political committee, Friends of Ron DeSantis, and his re-election campaign.

Democrats can’t keep up. U.S. Rep. Charlie Crist raised $805,171 in November between his campaign account and his political committee. Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried only managed to raise $106,086 for her official campaign and $110,223 for her Florida Consumers First political committee in November.