Florida Governor Ron DeSantis raised a whopping $8.2 million in his first 24 hours of fundraising as a presidential candidate.
The New York Times reported that the $8.2 figure was more than a $6.3 million that President Joe Biden raised in the first 24 hours of his campaign. It is believed to surpass the amount raised by former President Donald Trump after his 2024 announcement last November, although Trump did not release fundraising totals after the first 24 hours of his 2024 campaign.
Given that Trump’s campaign reported having raised $9.5 million during its first six weeks, DeSantis’ haul “far outpaces” how Trump “began his 2024 fund-raising in late 2022.”
The $8.2 million are hard dollars that the campaign can use, the report added.
“This historic fundraising haul shows that grassroots Republicans across the country are uniting behind Governor DeSantis’ vision for our Great American Comeback,” campaign manager Generra Peck said. “Governor DeSantis has built the strongest, most sophisticated organization in the history of American politics, and the tremendous support we’ve experienced in the last 24 hours will be critical as we hit the ground running in the early nominating states to share Governor DeSantis’ plan to revitalize the American Spirit.”
Never Back Down, a pro-DeSantis super PAC, says that it has already raised $40 million in its first two months of operation and it expects to get an $86 million infusion from DeSantis’ state pac that he used to raise funds as governor. DeSantis severed his connection with the pac, Friends of Ron DeSantis, a couple of weeks ago, which should allow the money to be transferred to Never Back Down.
A separate report from the Times said that Never Back Down is preparing to have a $200+ million budget, half of which it is going to use to fund a “voter-outreach push so big it plans to knock on the door of every possible DeSantis voter at least four times in New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina — and five times in the kickoff Iowa caucuses.”
The ground operation plans to hire nearly 3,000 field organizers by Labor Day, which the Times noted was “an extraordinary number of people for even the best-funded campaigns.”
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“No one has ever contemplated the scale of this organization or operation, let alone done it,” said Chris Jankowski, the group’s chief executive. “This has just never even been dreamed up.”