Florida Republican lawmakers go dialing for dollars to raise funds for DeSantis

A group of Republican state lawmakers met in Tampa on Wednesday to dial for dollars for Gov. Ron DeSantis’ presidential campaign.

DeSantis’ backers characterized the event as a show of force of the governor’s continued support from state legislators. The event also showed him returning to the familiar well of Florida’s donor class as his candidacy has struggled to catch fire nationally. About 40% of funds donated to DeSantis’ campaign account through June came from donors with Florida addresses, campaign finance records show.

His campaign has been hampered by money problems after it overspent in its first few months of operation, prompting mass staff layoffs. DeSantis also recently changed campaign managers.

“Florida’s elected leaders continue to show their strong backing for America’s greatest governor this week by dialing for dollars in support of Gov. DeSantis’ presidential campaign,” Florida House Speaker Paul Renner, R-Palm Coast, said in a statement about Wednesday’s event.

Renner said the person who raises the most during the “friendly fundraising competition” will win a ticket to the first Republican presidential debate in Milwaukee on Aug. 23. Separately, the campaign has also been heavily promoting a contest in which people who donate are entered to win a trip to the debate, including airfare and hotel costs as well as meeting DeSantis and his wife.

The vast majority of Republican state lawmakers endorsed DeSantis for president in May, even before the governor officially announced his candidacy. In contrast, many of Florida’s Republican representatives in Congress chose to stand behind former President Donald Trump. It’s a fact Trump hasn’t let DeSantis forget: The former president’s entourage at the Iowa State Fair over the weekend, where DeSantis was also stumping, included several members of the Florida delegation.

It is unclear how much the lawmakers raised Wednesday or even where in Tampa the event was held. Multiple representatives from the DeSantis campaign did not respond to calls or emails, and several Republican lawmakers said they did not know the location or declined to disclose it.

The tight-lipped approach is common for DeSantis’ operation, though he has ventured onto more mainstream news outlets for interviews in recent weeks.

Unlike super PACs that can accept massive checks from megadonors, donations to the official campaign are legally capped at $6,600 per person for the entire election cycle — making it crucial for campaigns to have a steady flow of donations from a broad network of people.

State Rep. Randy Fine, R-Brevard County, said DeSantis’ political problems have been overstated. He said he was not planning to attend Wednesday’s event but would call potential donors from his home if the campaign requested.

“Until the debates start, it’s all pregame,” he said. “I don’t know who thought beating Donald Trump would be easy. I certainly wasn’t one of them.”

Several other pro-DeSantis lawmakers or their spokespeople contacted by the Tampa Bay Times, including Sens. Blaise Ingoglia of Spring Hill and Jim Boyd of Bradenton, Senate President Kathleen Passidomo of Naples and Rep. Berny Jacques of Seminole said they were not attending because of scheduling or other conflicts.

Herald/Times Tallahassee Bureau staff writer Lawrence Mower and Times data editor Langston Taylor contributed to this report.