Drew Wilson
A few days after his official kickoff, U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds already has millions in the bank for his 2026 Governor campaign.
The Naples Republican first announced he would run for Governor in late February, becoming the first major candidate in the race to replace Gov. Ron DeSantis, who is term-limited.
Donalds entered the race with an endorsement from President Donald Trump in hand, and he has since collected endorsements from a range of elected Republicans, conservative commentators and advocacy groups.
It appears he has been collecting checks as well.
Donalds’ finance reports through the end of March will show about $12 million in overall fundraising. The total includes money raised through his campaign account as well as an affiliated political committee, Friends of Byron Donalds
The political committee, which is not subject to the same contribution limit as the official campaign account, took in the bulk.
Preliminary committee reports show several contributions of $100,000 or more. Two of them account for about half of Donalds’ stated fundraising total: A $5 million check from billionaire businessman Jeff Yass and a $1 million contribution from Richard Uihlein, the owner of business supply company Uline.
Finance reports for Donalds’ campaign account have not yet been released, but a campaign spokesperson the first report will show $540,000 raised across 4,300 donors.
