(RoyalPatriot.com )- Florida Republican Governor Ron DeSantis, who’s widely expected to win re-election in this week’s midterms, has raised so much money for his campaign that he’s in a great position should he seek higher office in a few years.
According to a recent Politico report, DeSantis has hauled in $200 million for his re-election campaign this cycle. Not only did that number far outpace the $31 million raised by his challenger, Charlie Crist, it also set new records.
If Crist were running in any other state, the $31 million he raised would have been sufficient to run an effective campaign. Unfortunately for him, he runs up against a fundraising juggernaut in DeSantis.
The amount of money that DeSantis was able to raise for his campaign doesn’t just put him in a solid position to win back the governor’s seat in Florida. It also positions him nicely for a potential run for the White House in two years, should he decide to become a candidate.
Politico reported that DeSantis has only spent a little more than half of the funds that he has raised through his campaign and aligned Political Action Committee. That leaves him with a $90 war chest with which he would start any potential 2024 presidential bid.
As a long-time lobbyist for the GOP in Florida, Slater Bayliss, explained:
“If you look at where the money is coming from, it’s indicative of Governor DeSantis being seen by national donors as the de facto frontrunner for president.”
DeSantis has indeed received some huge donation checks from well-known Republican political donors.
In July, he got a $10 million check from Robert Bigelow, a real estate mogul in Las Vegas who owns Budget Suites of America. That was the largest single political donation made in the history of Florida politics.
He also received two separate $5 million donations Ken Griffin, an investor who runs the Citadel LLC hedge fund. The public campaigning finance program in Florida contributed $3 million to his campaign, and he got another $20 million from the Republican Governors Association.
DeSantis has been mentioned as a potential GOP presidential in 2024 for some time now. But, until recently, he was being mentioned in that light as an alternative should former President Donald Trump decide not to run.
Now, he’s being viewed as a viable candidate even if Trump does decide to run. Many national GOP donors are starting to side with DeSantis over Trump, as the latter is starting to ramp up his rhetoric against DeSantis.
As Bayliss explained:
“I think people on the left do not thing their candidates sell out, and on the right we think ours cut deals, and are more pragmatic. Former President Trunmp’s whole brand on the Republican side was that he does not sell out.
“Governor DeSantis has built on that, and is taken more seriously by many Republican donors.”
A showdown between DeSantis and Trump may now seem inevitable, and it should be quite a ride in the coming years.
