Scott Powers
Gov. Ron DeSantis raised more than $10 million in April for his re-election bid, giving him more than $105 million in the bank heading toward next fall’s General Election.
DeSantis had the best month yet for his official campaign committee, which raised $2.3 million in April from more than 20,000 individual donors. That was about $30,000 more than his campaign’s previous best month, which was January of this year.
His independent political committee, Friends of Ron DeSantis, collected $8.1 million in April from some 1,700 individual contributors. That is not a record for that committee, but is the most money it has collected since April 2021.
In addition, the Republican Party of Florida donated $453,000 worth of in-kind services to his campaign, covering travel, campaign staff, research, telephones and consulting services.
Friends of Ron DeSantis’ April haul was bolstered by $750,000 from the Republican Governors Association and 18 other checks of at least $100,000. Most of those checks came from individuals or individuals’ trusts.
The Governor’s re-election efforts continue to be in an entirely different league than those of the Democrats seeking a shot at him in November. U.S. Rep. Charlie Crist, the leading Democrat in fundraising, topped $1 million in April, with $550,000 going into his official campaign and $460,000 going into his independent committee, Friends of Charlie Crist.
Most of DeSantis’ April money came from Floridians and Florida organizations and businesses.
For his official campaign, 70% of his April money came from Florida, about $1.6 million. He also drew $68,000 out of California, $58,000 out of New York, $44,000 out of Texas and $35,000 out of Virginia.
Friends of Ron DeSantis got 66% of its April money from Florida, or $5.5 million. That big check from the Republican Governor’s Association meant $750,000 out of Washington. The committee also drew $425,000 out of Arizona, $258,000 out of Nevada, $169,000 out of New York, and $167,000 out of South Carolina.
Friends of Ron DeSantis’ biggest April donors, after the Republican Governors Association, included private schools executive Leila Centner of Miami Beach; Nathan Saks of Jupiter; the Rom L. Reddy Revocable Trust of South Carolina; the J. Christopher Reyes 1999 Trust of West Palm Beach; the M. Jude Reyes 1999 Trust of West Palm Beach; the Mara L.S. Delminium Trust of Naples; Miami Dolphins owner Stephen Ross of Miami; former Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner of Key Largo; NextGen Management of Boca Raton; Tread Standard of Delaware; JM Family Enterprises of Deerfield Beach; Purple Good Government of Texas; Summit Contracting Group of Jacksonville; Gregory Burns of Las Vegas; Mark Kolokotrones of California; Jay Francis of Arizona; Phillip Ruffin of Kansas; and the Florida Medical Association PAC of Tallahassee. They each kicked in at least $100,000 in April.
The committee also deposited another 208 checks of at least $10,000 apiece.
DeSantis’ official campaign deposited 173 checks of the maximum donation amount of $3,000, and more than 730 checks of at least $1,000 in the month of April.
Key Largo was the official campaign’s hottest town in April. DeSantis’ campaign collected 85 checks totaling more than $141,000 there. He got another $114,000 out of Tallahassee, $94,000 out of Vero Beach, $57,000 out of Brooksville, and $53,000 out of Jacksonville in April.
