Ron DeSantis' money problems deepen ahead of a key stretch in the GOP primary
Ron DeSantis' money problems deepen ahead of a key stretch in the GOP primary
The Florida governor's campaign spent more on the nominating fight than it raised in the third quarter, as it shifts staff from its headquarters in Tallahassee to Iowa.
Ron DeSantis' presidential campaign entered this month with just $5 million in cash available for the primary, a sum that reignites doubts about his solvency, budgeting and ability to gain ground on front-running former President Donald Trump.
The pain is so acute that DeSantis is redeploying aides from his Tallahassee headquarters to Des Moines for the stretch run of a do-or-die Jan. 15 Iowa caucus. A better-funded operation might hire locally rather than shift resources. Past presidential campaigns have typically employed such a move only as a last-ditch cost-saving measure — and to look for a campaign-changing boost in an early state.
"The cash crunch has accelerated in the past month. It’s a huge problem," said one DeSantis donor. "If it continues to trend downwards and Trump continues to poll ahead, at some point they’re going to have to figure out if it makes sense to pull out and save face for 2028."
The fundraising numbers and decision to move staff from Florida to Iowa, confirmed by campaign spokesman Andrew Romeo, were first reported Wednesday by The New York Times. Overall, DeSantis' operation raised $15 million over the last three months through a joint fundraising committee, his leadership PAC and his campaign, Romeo said.
But some of the money can be spent only in the general election, because it was raised from big donors who already gave the maximum primary donation. And despite rounds of layoffs that were part of a much-publicized reset, DeSantis burned through more primary cash than he raised over the last three months.
At the end of the second quarter, DeSantis had $6.6 million in primary funds available, according to an NBC News analysis of his last campaign finance filing — roughly $1.6 million more than his campaign says it has now.
If DeSantis doesn't turn it around soon he might not make it to the Iowa caucus. Haley is already polling ahead of him in NH.
https://www.politico.com/news/2023/10/04/new-hampshire-nikki-haley-desantis-00119864
This is the best summary I could come up with:
The Florida governor's presidential campaign entered this month with just $5 million in cash available for the primary, a sum that reignites doubts about his solvency, budgeting and ability to gain ground on front-running former President Donald Trump.
The fundraising numbers and decision to move staff from Florida to Iowa, confirmed by campaign spokesman Andrew Romeo, were first reported Wednesday by The New York Times.
“You have seen first-hand how hard the Governor works to deliver for Floridians…our country needs his strong leadership to turn things around,” she wrote in the late September email, which was obtained by NBC News.
Nikki Haley, who served as Trump's ambassador to the United Nations, appears to have capitalized on strong back-to-back debate performances in Milwaukee and Simi Valley, California, to catapult into second place in New Hampshire.
The Haley and DeSantis campaigns are scheduled to attend a donor conference in Dallas Oct. 13, where they will sing for their suppers in front of the American Opportunity Alliance — a set of heavy-hitting GOP megadonors that includes billionaires Paul Singer and Harlan Crow.
"The Rob DeSanctimonious campaign's abysmal cash on hand is a direct byproduct of a failed candidate with no message and no reason to run," Trump co-campaign manager Chris LaCivita said, using an unflattering sobriquet that the former president bestowed on DeSantis.
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