While his Democratic challengers are vying to line up endorsements, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is being endorsed in a way they can only dream of.
With campaign contributions.
The Republican incumbent pulled down $10.2 million in fresh contributions during May, enabling him to expand the already sizable fundraising advantage he has over his Democratic opponents, U.S. Rep. Charlie Crist and state Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried.
With May’s haul, according to the Tallahassee Democrat, DeSantis has banked $124 million for his re-election campaign.
As The Free Press reported two months ago, when DeSantis topped $100 million, he is the first gubernatorial candidate in Florida, and perhaps the entire country, to reach that plateau solely through individual contributions – as opposed to self-funding.
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For their part, Crist received $1 million in May, while Fried collected almost $303,000, the Democrat reported.
That brought Crist up to $10.2 million, as Fried’s pot now totals $6.9 million.
Viewed differently, DeSantis now has roughly seven times the combined total of his challengers.
DeSantis long ago smashed the previous record for a Florida governor’s election, which was $88 million in 2014, set by then-incumbent GOP Gov. Rick Scott.
DeSantis hauled in $6.1 million in March, followed by $10.5 million in April, and now $10.2 million in May.
That trend suggests that DeSantis has hardly been hurt by taking tough conservative positions on so-called culture war issues, such as LGBT policies and his brawl with Disney, guns, Critical Race Theory, and immigration.
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