(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Did You Know DeSantis Raised $217 Million to Crist's $31.6 Million for FL Governor in 2022? [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.', 'Backgroundurl Avatar_Large', 'Nickname', 'Joined', 'Created_At', 'Story Count', 'N_Stories', 'Comment Count', 'N_Comments', 'Popular Tags'] Date: 2023-02-25 That’s 700% more than his opponent. I didn’t know this until I heard someone (I think Simon Rosenberg) mention it on a podcast a few weeks ago. According to Open Secrets: The Republican governor raised more than $217 million for his reelection bid, the most raised by any gubernatorial candidate in U.S. history, according to OpenSecrets data. DeSantis’ state-level PAC, Friends of Ron DeSantis, raked in nearly $176.8 million of that total while his campaign brought in $40.5 million. DeSantis used his political operation’s largesse to defeat his Democratic opponent, former Republican Gov. and Democratic U.S. Rep. Charlie Crist (D–Fla.), who resigned from the U.S. House to focus on his gubernatorial campaign. Crist raised $31.6 million. According to Politico, DeSantis’s fundraising made Crist unable to compete, raising “a staggering sum that is likely the most raised by any gubernatorial candidate in American history,” even though Crist’s $31 million “would put him in good shape in most competitive governor’s races across the country.” I bring this up for a few reasons: It does not appear to be widely known, even to political junkies like me. It took a good bit of googling to find even the articles cited above. Without reference to the grotesque money difference, media portray DeSantis’s win as evidence of his political brilliance and front-runner status for 2024. Yes, ability to fundraise does create viability as a Presidential candidate — and DeSantis has $90M left over from the $217M to do that. But conventional wisdom has gone way beyond that, praising him for his “savvy” with pernicious columns like this one from Bret Stephens’s ex-wife and “we must pay attention” columns from other Times columnists like Bruni and Blow. Most of the funds were from large donors, illustrating the grotesque result of Citizens United. For example, Last July, real estate mogul Robert Bigelow personally handed him a check for $10M in Vegas . And, DeSantis received two $5 million checks from investor Ken Griffin, who recently moved his hedge fund Citadel LLC from Chicago to Miami. The Republican Governors Association also gave DeSantis $20 million and the Florida governor got $3 million from state taxpayers as part of Florida’s public campaign financing program. Those four alone gave his campaign more cash than Crist was able to raise during the entire election cycle. Crist is also considered one of Florida’s best political fundraisers. It shows the difference money can make when the disparity is that large. Maybe some will be a little more tolerant of the fundraising appeals in our inboxes. It takes a lot of ten bucks contributions to match up with those billionaire checks. Maybe some of our billionaires (there are some besides Soros) will be a little more generous. Money can buy turnout and flood the airwaves. A hundred million can fund a lot of paid GOTV workers. From Politico: About 7.7 million Florida voters cast ballots. GOP voter turnout was 67.3 percent, compared to 52 percent for Democrats and 38.5 percent turnout for independents and those registered with minor parties. This Republican turnout advantage is higher than it was in the tea party wave year of 2010 (when Rick Scott narrowly won his first gubernatorial race) and may be the highest ever for the GOP. This does not diminish other factors, like Crist’s lackluster campaign, the weakness of the Florida Democratic party, Miami area socialism mongering among some Latinx voters, and Republican voter suppression, including the chilling effect of DeSantis’s arrests of former felons who registered in good faith. It can be dispiriting that so many wealthy people are championing a racist, homophobic authoritarian. But while they may have the edge in large donor dollars, we have the issues and the voters nationally. Results in MI, WI, PA, and AZ in 2022 showed the power of the Democratic message, especially post-Dobbs. The expected decision banning Plan B will only stoke this motivation. Especially if we harness the power of young voters. Please support these groups: ***** In case you missed it, in Who is Bethesda 1971? I reveal who I am. [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/2/25/2152380/-Did-You-Know-DeSantis-Raised-217-Million-to-Crist-s-31-6-Million-for-FL-Governor-in-2022 Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/