Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis posted the best first fundraising quarter of any non-incumbent Republican candidate in over a decade, according to campaign finance data.
The DeSantis for President campaign raised $20 million in six weeks, surpassing the amount the Trump campaign raised during its first two fundraising quarters combined.
“The campaign’s haul is the largest first-quarter filing from any non-incumbent Republican candidate in more than a decade,” DeSantis’ campaign announced in a news release on Thursday. “It bests the $18.3 million former president and quasi-incumbent Donald Trump's campaign raised during its first two fundraising quarters as a candidate,” citing $3.8 million raised in Q4 2022 and nearly $14.5 million raised in Q1 2023, according to campaign finance data filed with the Federal Election Commission.
“Joe Biden’s leftist policies are destroying the country, and Republicans are excited to invest in a winner ready to lead America’s revival,” DeSantis for President campaign manager Generra Peck said. “We are grateful for the investment so many Americans have made to get this country back on track. The fight to save it will be long and challenging, but we have built an operation to share the governor’s message and mobilize the millions of people who support it. We are ready to win.”
Campaigns are due to report fundraising data to the Federal Election Commission by July 15. Trump’s campaign reported raising $35 million in the second quarter but had double the amount of time that DeSantis’ campaign had since entering the race on May 24.
The Never Back Down super PAC supporting DeSantis’ campaign has raised $130 million since March, the Sarasota Herald Tribune reported, including “$82.5 million transferred from DeSantis' former state political committee, part of the record-breaking fundraising for his re-election campaign.”
