Ron DeSantis’ Florida ‘Freedom Fund’ off to slow fundraising start

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis listens during a news conference Thursday, Sept. 22, 2022, in Miami. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)

Gov. Ron DeSantis believes that statewide races in Florida will largely be lopsided, so he’s said he wants to focus on killing Constitutional amendments legalizing cannabis and restoring reproductive rights abridged in recent years by the Legislature.

Thus far, though, his political committee formed to that end has not raised much money.

The Florida Freedom Fund, a name seen as ironic by some critics, has brought in only $10,000 in the five weeks of fundraising activity ending June 21, 2024.

“From up and down ballot races to critical amendments, we’re steadfast in our mission to keep Florida free,” a DeSantis spokesperson, Taryn Fenske, told POLITICO upon launch.

But steadfastness aside, the $2,000 a week fundraising pace simply won’t be enough to counter the high-dollar campaigns for recreational pot and rollbacks of legislative restrictions on abortion, as seen currently by the ban on the procedure after the sixth week of pregnancy that went into effect earlier this year.

DeSantis has talked a big game about how he will fight the “overly broad” amendments.

“We are working with a lot of stakeholders who are interested in making sure that we defeat Amendment 3, which would basically do marijuana, wherever you want, just smoke it, take it. And it would turn Florida into San Francisco, or Chicago, or some of these places,” DeSantis said at a press event earlier this month. “We already have medical marijuana, it’s out there. But we got to keep our streets clean, we cannot have every town smelling like marijuana.”

“This amendment is written maybe more liberal than New York and California, but you would basically have a cottage industry where people would be coming into Florida for this purpose,” the Governor told faith leaders this month regarding the abortion amendment.

“I think this really requires everybody of faith to want to be involved in defeating what they put on this ballot,” he added.

Anti-weed stakeholders and anti-abortion faith leaders have a long way to go to match the money in favor of the citizens’ initiatives though.

Floridians Protecting Freedom, which is behind the abortion amendment, has raised nearly $38 million and still had more than $15 million on hand at last check. Though the week ending June 21 was its slowest fundraising period in some time, the committee cleared more than $212,000 all the same.

Smart & Safe Florida, the best-funded cannabis legalization amendment in American history, has raised more than $60 million, and had more than $13 million on hand as of June 21.