“He was asking for big licking – $ 5 million and $ 10 million per fundraiser – and he’s getting it, and that’s a warning sign,” Reed said. “DeSantis is the talk of every Republican cocktail party and every organizational meeting. His support covers the money order and the Conservative movement. And that’s a strong combination at the beginning of the game.” The latest DeSantis fundraising figures will not be made official until Monday, the state deadline for reporting the March totals. However, a CNN review of contributions published on the website of its political committee, Friends of Ron DeSantis, showed that March was $ 6.1 million. His campaign and his political committee, which are separate entities both working for his re-election, had previously said they had raised a total of $ 96 million by February. While the proliferation of political committees and differences in campaign finance laws make it difficult to compare fundraising figures across state borders, DeSantis seems to be the first candidate in any state to overshadow $ 100 million in total from donations. According to data from OpenSecrets campaign overseer, the two previous $ 100 million campaigners – former business executive and 2010 GOP nominee for California Gov. Meg Whitman and Illinois Governor whose family owns Hyatt Hotels – financed their campaigns almost entirely with their own money. DeSantis, however, is not independently rich. Prior to becoming governor in 2019, DeSantis served less than three terms in Congress. Prior to that, he was a lawyer in the Navy. His net worth is $ 348,000, according to his latest financial statement. Instead, DeSantis has broken fundraising records based on a mix of sources. He has received significant contributions from the state and national parties and has crossed the country to raise money from wealthy GOP donors. His political committee has amassed large checks from influential Florida-based companies and small donations from all 50 states. DeSantis has also leveraged former President Donald Trump’s donor network, including Home Depot co-founder Bernie Marcus, WeatherTech CEO David MacNeil and shipping mogul Richard Uihlein and his wife, Elizabeth. They have all given six-figure sums to the DeSantis political committee. Because the money was raised for a state race, it is unlikely to be used to help DeSantis in a federal campaign if he is a candidate in the future. But former President George W. Bush has shown how an uninterrupted fundraiser on a state race can boost a presidential candidate. Like DeSantis, Bush in 1998 was a well-established Republican as a serious candidate for the next presidential race. Bush has signaled that he would be a formidable candidate for the White House, raising fancy fundraising numbers on the way to a historic Lonestar victory margin. “I’ve seen a lot of people raise money like this in the past. It does not always mean success,” said Charlie Black, who worked on Bush’s presidential campaign. “Bush has been successful with this strategy. The biggest thing De Santis has to do is keep an eye on the ball and make sure he is re-elected.” Other potential candidates for 2024 are considering DeSantis’ ability to raise funds – including Trump. The former president watched closely as former donors opened their checkbooks to the governor of Florida, people close to Trump told CNN. Trump reiterated to the Washington Post this week his belief that he “did” DeSantis when he approved the underfunded and lesser-known MP in the 2018 GOP qualifier for governor of Florida. He added that he does not believe DeSantis – or any other ally – will be a candidate in 2024 if the former president is in the race. “If I run, I can not imagine that they would like to be a candidate,” Trump said. “Some out of faith would find it difficult to run.” An adviser to a potential presidential candidate has acknowledged that major Republican donors are likely to see DeSantis “an opportunity to get on the ground floor” of a future presidential campaign – the only candidate approaching to compete with Trump in early 2024. But the consultant added that DeSantis can prove more than just being a successful fundraiser. “Despite the attention it is getting, DeSantis has not been tested to a great extent,” said the consultant. “When you look at the potential 2024 sector, he stands out as the person who has never faced a monumental challenge and that is sure to happen in the next year and a half. It will be a pivotal moment for him.”

The advantage of DeSantis

Other candidates for 2024 may need to wander around Trump’s feet and raise money through political action committees with vague mission statements to help elect Republicans. But as a candidate for re-election in a high-profile state, DeSantis does not need to justify having an audience with big Republican sponsors. The list of donors to the governor’s campaign is who’s who’s from the GOP money class: businessman John Childs, hedge fund manager Paul Tudor Jones, former private equity financier and former Illinois governor Bruce Rauner, San Francisco Giants owner Charles Johnson meat the spasmodic tycoon Troy Link, among others. It is a combination of former presidential campaign supporters, Trump allies and some people, such as hedge fund director Ken Griffin and Interactive Brokers Group chairman Thomas Peterffy, looking beyond Trump to 2024. Peterffy told Bloomberg News last year he would have preferred to see DeSantis as the Republican candidate for the 2024 presidency because he is less impulsive than Trump. Griffin ruled out backing Trump if he were to run again. Rob Stutzman, an adviser to the California-based GOP, said DeSantis’ fundraising to date “certainly confirms conventional wisdom that non-Trump is a pioneer in the candidacy.” “Demonstrating this kind of fundraising network is what other candidates will look out for as they assess whether they will enter the field to compete against it,” he said. “It could be an issue that continues to arouse the jealousy of Donald Trump.” Nick Iarossi, DeSantis lobbyist and top fundraiser, said the governor’s support among donors increased during the coronavirus pandemic, when he expelled medical experts and lifted restrictions on businesses and schools before most other states. He has won more support as he has often become unlucky for President Joe Biden, often challenging the White House’s policies on coronavirus mitigation measures, vaccines and immigration. “It makes him a formidable national contender for sure,” Iarossi told DeSantis’s growing fundraising network. “But I think there is a bigger message and a message that the governor hopes the people of the party will see and that he is doing what you say you will do and not apologizing for it will lead to support.” DeSantis has another advantage that fuels its push for a record fundraiser: Florida campaign finance laws do not limit contributions to political committees. As it stands, Republican donors across the country and prominent Florida companies have cut five-digit and six-digit controls to immediately support DeSantis’ re-election bid. Griffin contributed $ 5 million to a single donation. The Union of Republican Governors has invested more than $ 10 million. It’s an advantage shared by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, another potential 2024 GOP candidate who will face a re-election race for the first time this year. Abbott raised $ 93 million by Feb. 19 for his fight against Democratic Beto O’Rourke, according to OpenSecrets. Pete Quist, deputy director of research at OpenSecrets, has been studying fundraising data from governors for years. He said incumbents benefit when there are no levy limits “because they take interest money and checks come in earlier and higher”. DeSantis ran for governor in 2018 as the antidote to a state government he portrayed as overrunning lobbyists and corporate money. DeSantis’s campaign described his Republican rival, incumbent Adam Putnam, as “money of special interest” and a “swamp resident.” Borrowing a line from Trump, DeSantis promised to “drain the swamp in Tallahassee that must be drained like Washington.” Since his election, however, DeSantis’s political ambitions have benefited from the grandeur of some of Florida’s most powerful and politically affiliated entities. His political committee has raised nearly $ 3 million from the same companies and industry-related political committees that have donated more than $ 150,000 to Putnam, including Disney, utilities and a PAC run by state-owned Realtors. DeSantis’s campaign declined to comment on the story.

Democrats are campaigning from behind

Florida, with its diverse and disparate communities split into half a dozen large television markets, is a notorious state that spends on campaigning. Candidates are expected to pick up cash or pony punches from their pockets to compete in races across the state. But even by Florida standards, DeSantis has become extreme. He has already surpassed the record of 88 million dollars raised during the 2014 election cycle by his predecessor, now a senator. Rick Scott, a former health care executive who helped fund his own campaign. DeSantis is about to overshadow the $ 113 million he and his 2018 rival, Democrat Andrew Gillum, have put together to raise in their costly, tough race for governor. And there are still seven months until election day. Meanwhile, Democrats trying to defeat DeSantis are still finding their footing. By February, U.S. lawmaker Charlie Crist, once the Republican nominee and Democratic nominee for governor in 2014, had amassed $ 7.1 million, up from $ 4.7 million. Condition…