Can political skill match war chest for DeSantis?
Some in GOP see early shakiness in Fla. governor
As Governor Ron DeSantis of Florida prepares to take a widely anticipated leap into the 2024 presidential campaign, one of his chief strengths is his ability to raise huge sums from deep-pocketed donors.
But his formidable war chest — at least $110 million in state and federal committees aligned with him — is no guarantee of success on the national stage, and his financial firepower brings with it a series of challenges he must navigate to capture the Republican nomination.
DeSantis’ unsteady debut on the national stage over the past month, including remarks about Ukraine that alarmed many Republicans and hesitant counterpunches against former president Donald Trump, has also showcased his aloof and at times strained relationship with donors.
Recent additions of seasoned advisers to his team and to an allied super political action committee have allayed some concerns, strategists and donors said, but the early rookie mistakes, as one Republican donor put it, may have rattled influential would-be backers. DeSantis’ poll numbers have sagged against Trump, who has repeatedly taunted DeSantis and weaponized his fund-raising strength against him, painting the governor as a puppet of wealthy Republican elites.
Those barbs by Trump — who was largely forsaken by big donors even before his recent indictment by New York prosecutors — underscore the political reality that no matter how much money DeSantis has, he will have to overcome the grassroots enthusiasm and army of small donors that Trump continues to command. The former president’s popular appeal was particularly apparent this past week, with his campaign announcing Wednesday that it had raised $12 million off the news of his indictment.
DeSantis will also have to cultivate and tend to relationships with the everyday financial players in Republican politics — the millionaire donors, bundlers, and fund-raisers whose enduring support is necessary to sustain a presidential campaign. He has, by many accounts, kept these donors at arm’s length while touring the country this past month, opting for rallies, book signings, and closed-door meetings with allies instead of fund-raising dinners.
Although it is still early in the campaign cycle, some donors and strategists have questioned whether DeSantis’ skills as a politician are lagging behind his robust bank account.
“He is in the most enviable financial position of any candidate,” possibly including Trump, said Mike Murphy, a longtime Republican strategist. “There are questions in Republican circles about DeSantis’ candidate skills; can he make the transition from being the governor of a Republican state, where you exist on people’s TV screens, to the microscope of New Hampshire and Iowa?”
DeSantis also has a campaign finance conundrum on his hands: Most of his money — more than $80 million, as of the end of February — is tied up in a Florida PAC. He is prohibited by law from transferring that “soft” money — dollars raised without federally imposed limits — into a presidential campaign.
Any move to use that money in support of his national ambitions, including transferring it to an affiliated super PAC, would still be likely to raise red flags among campaign finance watchdogs, although campaign finance experts said the Federal Election Commission, which has for years been deadlocked between the parties, was unlikely to act on it.
In a statement, the FEC’s chair, Dara Lindenbaum, and vice chair, Sean Cooksey, said any assertion that the commission’s bipartisan structure prevented it from fulfilling its mission was “misinformed.”
“Without commenting on any specific case, commissioners assess each enforcement matter on its merits, and we reach agreement in nearly 90 percent of them,” they said.
Representatives for DeSantis and for Never Back Down PAC, a super PAC that is expected to serve as a main vehicle for supporting DeSantis in a presidential bid, did not respond to detailed requests for comment.
At the end of February, as DeSantis began a national tour of speaking engagements and promotional events for his new book, his allies and backers stepped up preparations for a possible presidential run.
Friends of Ron DeSantis, a Florida PAC that had supported his successful reelection effort in November, continued to take in millions of dollars, including $10 million in February alone.