Though many donors are focused on November, when the governor is up for reelection, DeSantis’ fundraising signals that he is both a viable 2024 candidate who may not need the former president’s backing and one who is sapping some financial support from Trump.
“I think Ron’s fundraising really speaks for itself,” said Francis Rooney, a former construction company owner, longtime Republican donor and former Florida congressman who was open to impeaching Trump in 2019. “It is possible Trump’s percentage of the Republicans keeps going down and I think it’s possible people will start looking elsewhere.”…
DeSantis has long been expected to run for president in 2024 but over the past year has drastically expanded his national footprint and following among conservatives across the country, who were drawn to his anti-shut down Covid-19 policies and staunch opposition to pandemic-related mandates. He has recently started to run neck-and-neck with Trump or even beaten the former president in early 2024 straw polls, leaving some of the GOP’s biggest donors writing huge checks for DeSantis at a time when that could still come with political risk.
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