Gov. Ron DeSantis’s (R-FL) presidential campaign claimed it raised $8.2 million in the first 24 hours after its launch.
The total was reported by the New York Times and was confirmed by the DeSantis campaign to the Washington Examiner. It includes online donations and those collected through “Ron-O-Rama,” a meeting of major Republican donors at the Four Seasons in Miami. The total beats that of President Joe Biden, who raised $6.3 million within 24 hours of announcing his candidacy in 2019.
FITCH THREATENS TO DOWNGRADE US’S ‘AAA’ CREDIT RATING OVER DEBT CEILING STANDOFF
DeSantis is also on track to beat the early figures of his primary Republican rival, former President Donald Trump, who raised $9.5 million in his first six weeks after announcing his candidacy, though his announcement came unusually early.
The pro-DeSantis super PAC Never Back Down is aiming for a budget of $200 million, the New York Times reported. Of this, $100 million is designated to go toward 2,600 field organizers to knock on the door of every possible DeSantis voter in New Hampshire, Nevada, and South Carolina no less than four times and no less than five times in Iowa.
One of those fundraising for DeSantis on Thursday was former Republican Rep. Lou Barletta, a former Trump ally who claimed he spent almost 7 1/2 straight hours making calls to likely donors.
CLICK HERE FOR MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
“There was so much enthusiasm in that room,” he said. “I had very, very few people say no to me on those calls.”
DeSantis allies are hoping that the advantage in fundraising will help the Florida governor close the ever-increasing gap between him and Trump. A Fox News poll taken May 19-22 had Trump with a lead of 33 percentage points over DeSantis.
