Megadonors, with eyes on 202, flood Florida governor’s race with money

The Florida governor’s race may be the nation’s purest contest between a Donald Trump devotee and a hero of the progressive resistance, but it is definitely a clash of the megadonors. The race has riveted the nation — and the nation’s top donors — pitting Las Vegas casino magnate Sheldon Adelson against liberal billionaires George Soros and Tom Steyer and former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

The money is pouring in from coast to coast, with checks cut by Hollywood celebrities, hedge fund managers, public employee unions and top business executives. Everyday folk are also kicking in increments of less than $200.

“It’s really a proxy battle,” said longtime Republican political strategist Mac Stipanovich. “It’s Donald Trump and his prestige against Democratic progressivism and what they hope is the wave of the future.”

At stake is not just the Governor’s Mansion, but a leg up in the battle for the White House in 2020. The leader of the nation’s largest swing state will hold considerable sway. Either Republican Ron DeSantis, who resigned from Congress to pursue his run for governor, or Democrat Andrew Gillum, mayor of Tallahassee, will help shape the political landscape well into the next decade. After the 2020 census, the state and federal district maps will be redrawn on one or the other’s watch.

The two candidates met in their final debate Wednesday night.

With the ripples potentially so far reaching, Gillum and DeSantis have both attracted the support of billionaires from outside Florida, including Soros and Steyer, who have spent millions backing Gillum, and Illinois Republicans Richard Uihlein and Kenneth C. Griffin, DeSantis backers who collectively have matched them dollar for dollar — and then some.

Actor/producer Tyler Perry has given $100,000 to Gillum’s PAC, while the wife of Marvel Entertainment’s chairman has given DeSantis’ PAC $2 million.

All told, more than half of the $33 million Gillum has raised for his campaign and political action committees has come from out of state, while roughly one-third of the $44 million DeSantis has brought in to his two committees has originated from outside Florida’s borders, according to a Miami Herald/Tampa Bay Times analysis of state campaign finance records.

In a state long considered “purple” for its eclectic political mix, this year’s election offers no middle-ground candidate. Each appeals strongly to his party’s base. Gillum, a staunch progressive, has supported a $15 minimum wage and expanding Medicaid. DeSantis, a founding member of the ultra-conservative Freedom Caucus in the U.S. House, is endorsed by President Donald Trump and has pledged to veto any bills that raise taxes.

The Herald/Times analysis shows that at least 71 percent of DeSantis’ total cash raised has come from donors who gave at least $10,000. The corresponding number for Gillum: 59 percent. Families or couples were grouped together as single “donors” for purposes of this analysis.

No donor has given more to back DeSantis — not even the Republican Party — than the Chicago-based billionaire hedge fund manager Griffin, who has donated a staggering $5.7 million to DeSantis’ PAC.

Laura Perlmutter, wife of Marvel Chairman Isaac “Ike” Perlmutter, has given DeSantis $2 million, while Republican megadonor and casino mogul Adelson and his wife, Miriam, have contributed a combined $500,000 to the Republican. Illinois shipping magnate Uihlein wrote a $500,000 check, along with $250,000 to another state committee that has in turn transferred almost all its funding to DeSantis.

Many of these donors are also among the biggest backers of the national Republican Governors Association, which has donated $1.5 million to DeSantis’ accounts and poured $7.5 million into the Florida Facts PAC, which has spent millions on television ads aimed at boosting DeSantis.

“We are grateful for all of the tremendous support we’ve received. We have the momentum in the race and are working hard toward a big win in two weeks,” said Stephen Lawson, a spokesman for the DeSantis campaign.