Florida Governor Ron DeSantis reportedly brought in $8.2 million in the first 24 hours after his presidential campaign launch.
DeSantis launched his campaign in a Twitter Space with Elon Musk on Wednesday evening and reportedly raised over a million dollars in the first hour.
In 2019, then-presidential candidate Joe Biden raised $6.3 million in the first 24 hours of his campaign.
Former President Donald Trump’s campaign has said that he raised $4 million in the 24 hours after his criminal indictment in New York this year. In total, his campaign raised approximately $9.5 million in the six weeks following his campaign announcement in November.
DeSantis haul in his first 24 hours after announcing: $8.2 million
Trump haul in his first six weeks after announcing: $9.5 million https://t.co/9zbx9yGhxU
— Gabe Fleisher (@WakeUp2Politics) May 25, 2023
“Bryan Griffin, a DeSantis spokesman, said the campaign was raising both primary and general election funds. The campaign can raise $3,300 per donor for both the primary and general election. He declined to say how money was earmarked for use only in the general election, should Mr. DeSantis become the nominee,” the New York Times reports. “A donor making calls in the room first disclosed that the campaign had raised $8.2 million, and Mr. Griffin confirmed the figure. All the funds are so-called hard dollars that the campaign can use.”
It is not currently known how many donors contributed to that total.
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— Giancarlo Sopo (@GiancarloSopo) May 26, 2023
According to the report, the $8.2 million does not include money raised by the pro-DeSantis super PAC, Never Back Down, which has been raising money for months to transfer to the campaign. It is not publicly known how much cash they have on hand.
Though DeSantis entered the race with a big splash, Trump remains the frontrunner for the Republican nomination at time of publishing. DeSantis is currently the only other candidate with consistent double digit support.
Next week, DeSantis will travel to 12 cities in three states to campaign.
