DeSantis political account soars to $53 million
Some of the biggest contributions come from out-of-state donors
Gov. Ron DeSantis’ political committee is almost $50 million ahead of his major Democratic rivals, and August only brought more big checks from around the country.
While DeSantis is doing extremely well with small donations of $25 or less, taking in almost 13,000 such individual contributions, some of his biggest donors are from out of state, highlighting his national profile and potential greater ambitions.
Just over the past few months, the Florida governor, who last week called talk of his possible run for the presidency in 2024 “nonsense,” held events in Nebraska, Indiana and Michigan.
According to the latest campaign filings, Friends of Ron DeSantis raised more than $5.5 million in August and had about $53 million on hand as of Aug. 31. The group raised almost $46 million during the first eight months of the year.
Unlike his GOP predecessor, the independently wealthy Rick Scott, DeSantis can’t spend millions of his own money on his campaigns. DeSantis’ net worth was at about $389,000 at the end of last year, according to his latest financial disclosure statement.
DeSantis is up for reelection next year but hasn’t officially filed to run again yet. Unlike personal campaign accounts that have contribution limits, an associated committee does not have restrictions on how much it can receive from a single donor.
The DeSantis committee’s largest contributions in August were $500,000 from the Republican Governors Association and $500,000 from Richard and Elizabeth Uihlein of Illinois.
Richard Uihlein, a descendant of one of the founders of Schlitz Beer, ranks among the biggest contributors to Repub
licans and conservative groups in the country. He and his wife have given nearly $60 million during the 2018 and 2020 cycles.
Their August contribution also brings them into the upper ranks of DeSantis donors, behind only WeatherTech founder David MacNeil and Citadel hedge fund founder Kenneth Griffin.
MacNeil, who was listed as living in Illinois when he gave $200,000 to Friends of DeSantis, is now listed as being a Fort Lauderdale resident. He gave $800,000 to the DeSantis PAC this year, including $300,000 newly reported in August.
But above them all is Griffin, who gave Friends of DeSantis $5 million in April after having given $5.75 million during DeSantis’s first gubernatorial campaign in 2018.
Griffin contributed nearly $66 million to Republicans during the 2020 elections, according to Bloomberg.
His contributions to DeSantis’ PAC made headlines in August when the Associated Press reported that Citadel had $15.9 million worth of shares of Regeneron Pharmaceutical Inc., according to filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Regeneron makes the monoclonal antibody treatment heavily touted by DeSantis over the past few months as coronavirus cases surged.
The article drew a harsh response from DeSantis and his staff, with DeSantis slamming the AP story as a “misleading, clickbait headline.” The AP had asked DeSantis to end what it called DeSantis spokeswoman Christina Pushaw’s “harassing behavior” towards one of their journalists after Pushaw retweeted the article and wrote “drag them” in a since-deleted post.
Twitter temporarily suspended Pushaw’s account for violating its rules on “abusive behavior” after the AP said her conduct led to threats and other online abuse.
While Citadel would benefit if Regeneron’s stock price increases, its shares in the medical company are a small portion of their overall $39 billion in investments. Pushaw cited the company’s larger investments in vaccine manufacturers Moderna and Pfizer.
‘A direct conversation’
Susan MacManus, a professor emerita of political science at the University of South Florida, said that while the bigger donors are usually ardent partisans, there are other reasons beyond party loyalty.
“Most of the time, it’s not only the party, but it’s also the notion that you can have a direct conversation with the person that you’re giving to,” MacManus said. “Whereas a small donor would not have that opportunity. And sometimes, the doors open so they can make their pitch. And that’s the best they’re hoping for, an ear that will at least let them give their side to an issue or product or whatever else. And it’s been that way for a long time.”
One of the other biggest DeSantis PAC contributors, former Republican Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner, was also the subject of a story that drew an intense reaction from DeSantis and his camp. In March, DeSantis denied he had anything to do with providing COVID vaccines to Rauner’s wealthy, gated Florida Keys community ahead of other state residents.
One month after the January vaccinations of almost all the senior residents at Ocean Reef Club, Rauner wrote DeSantis’ political committee a $250,000 check. In all, 17 Ocean Reef residents had donated $5,000 each to the governor’s political committee through December 2020, the Miami Herald reported.
The controversy was featured in a controversial “60 Minutes” report that focused on Publix’s $100,000 donation to DeSantis’ PAC and the state’s partnership with the chain to provide COVID vaccines. The report’s allegations about Publix were criticized by DeSantis but also several Democrats, including the mayor of Palm Beach County.
Home Depot founder Bernard Marcus, one of former President Donald Trump’s biggest donors, also contributed $250,000 to DeSantis’ PAC.
Some big donors from 2018 have yet to pony up money this time, however. Former Anheuser Busch CEO August Busch IV gave DeSantis’ PAC $200,000 in 2018 but nothing yet so far this cycle. Robert Guidry of Louisiana gave $250,000 in 2018 but also hasn’t donated yet this year.
‘Ungodly sums of money’
In a fundraising email, Democratic gubernatorial candidate Charlie Crist described a “Republican juggernaut” in fundraising that has narrowed the Democrats’ traditional edge in voter registration.
“Florida Republicans aren’t just building a massive force and coming for our voter registration advantage … they’re also raising ungodly sums of money,” said U.S. Rep. Crist, D-St. Petersburg.
Florida GOP executive director Helen Aguirre Ferre said it was “understandable that Crist is worried about his lackluster fundraising, but he should also be concerned about his dismal record of accomplishments. Governor DeSantis does more in one week than Crist did in the last decade.”
Crist raised a total of $700,000 in August for his campaign account and the political committee Friends of Charlie Crist, finance reports show. Combined, the committee and campaign account had nearly $2.5 million on hand as of Aug. 31.
The two biggest individual contributors to Crist’s PAC were Michael Trentalange, a Tampa attorney, and Barbara Steifel, a Steifel Laboratories heir from Coral Gables, who both gave $100,000.
Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried raised about $418,000 for her campaign account and the political committee Florida Consumers First in August. She had a combined total of $2.82 million on hand as of Aug. 31.
MacManus said the big Democratic donors were probably taking a wait-andsee attitude for the primary.
“They don’t want to pick sides in the party,” she said. “The differential is a bit deceiving in that big Democratic donors are surely going to come to Florida in the governor’s race and also the Senate. And they’re going to just wait till the nominees are there. … It doesn’t look to me like they’re panicking at the moment.”