DeSantis built a massive network of big donors. Many have ditched him.
DeSantis built a massive network of big donors. Many have ditched him.
A POLITICO analysis shows just a substantial drop off in giving.
The inability of Ron DeSantis to convert more of his gubernatorial donors into presidential ones is emblematic of a larger shortcoming of his current campaign. | Sean Rayford/Getty Images
By ALEX ISENSTADT and JESSICA PIPER
09/06/2023 05:00 AM EDT
Former Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner was among Ron DeSantis’ biggest boosters during the 2022 midterm election, giving nearly $1 million to his reelection bid. But as he has surveyed the field of GOP candidates for president, Rauner — a wealthy former private equity executive who was DeSantis’ fifteenth biggest donor in last year’s election — has not given any more money to the Florida governor. Rauner told POLITICO he thinks another candidate, former U.N Ambassador Nikki Haley, has a better shot of defeating President Joe Biden than DeSantis.
“I think he’s done a terrific job as governor of Florida, and I’ve been, as I think you know, a big supporter of him in that role,” Rauner said of DeSantis. But, he added, “I think Nikki Haley probably has the best chance to win the general election … I think everyone is trying to sort things out. We gotta win, we gotta win the general.”
Rauner isn’t the only former mega-DeSantis donor who’s refused to open his wallet for DeSantis. Of the 50 donors who gave at least $160,000 in the years leading up to his 2022 reelection campaign, only 16 — less than a third — provided funds to the super PAC Never Back Down, which can receive unlimited contributions, through the end of June. Eight other major donors gave directly to his presidential campaign but not the super PAC.
The top 50 list includes five donors who are now financially supporting rival presidential candidates. And of those who are giving money to the DeSantis campaign or his super PAC, five are splitting their funds with other candidates.
The inability of DeSantis to convert more of his gubernatorial donors into presidential ones is emblematic of a larger shortcoming of his current campaign. And it presents particular problems for the governor precisely because his operation has leaned so heavily on the super PAC to perform basic campaign functions.
Trailing former President Donald Trump by wide margins in Republican primary polls — some of which show him struggling to keep his second-place status — many former contributors to the Florida governor are looking to other candidates or keeping their wallets shut entirely.
Watch: DeSantis’ ‘listless vessels’ commentShare
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DeSantis still has a well-funded effort. Never Back Down had nearly $97 million available to spend as of the end of June, according to the second quarter filings — a figure that far surpasses the super PACs supporting his rivals. That includes the outfit supporting Trump, which reported just short of $31 million in cash on hand.
