DeSantis couldn’t hold donors’ interest as his campaign and allies spent $150 million

As polls found voters losing interest in Ron DeSantis, donors were showing his campaign the same thing, new federal campaign finance reports show, leaving him wheezing into the Iowa caucuses and heavily reliant on a super PAC that had already burned through most of its money.

An analysis of campaign disclosures filed Wednesday with the Federal Election Commission paints a picture of a DeSantis campaign on the brink of financial ruin in the weeks before he ended his presidential bid following a distant second-place finish in the Iowa caucuses. In the final three months of 2023, DeSantis’ team brought in just $6.7 million — its worst quarterly fundraising haul to date — all the while spending $9.3 million.

He still began the new year with about $9.7 million in cash on hand, his latest filings show. But much of that money couldn’t be used in the primary because of federal limits on the amount of cash that donors can give per election.

The DeSantis campaign’s money problems spotlight how drastically the Florida governor’s fortunes changed in the eight months that he spent officially campaigning for the Republican presidential nomination. When he entered the race in May, he was widely seen as the most formidable Republican challenger to Donald Trump, but ultimately failed to clinch the one-on-one primary matchup with the former president that he had hoped for.

DeSantis’ latest campaign finance filings span through Dec. 31, exactly three weeks before he suspended his presidential bid. In announcing his decision to exit the race, leaving former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley as the only Republican candidate taking on Trump, DeSantis said that there simply wasn’t a path to victory for him. He endorsed Trump, arguing that he was the candidate best positioned to take on President Joe Biden in November.

Yet his campaign finance filings suggested that DeSantis was under an enormous amount of financial pressure, as well. Nearly all of the money he raised in the last few months of the year went toward payroll and travel costs, various consulting fees, campaign debt repayment and an enormous $2 million ad buy.

READ MORE: DeSantis offered to ‘Make America Florida.’ Voters in Iowa and N.H. shrugged

Never Back Down

The campaign’s spending only tells part of the story of the operating cost for DeSantis’ presidential bid. Never Back Down, the main super PAC that supported his run, took on the responsibility last year of organizing many events for the governor and paying for at least some of his private jet travel as the campaign sought to cut down on its expenses.

Never Back Down burned through money at a rapid clip. Since it launched last February — months before DeSantis announced his presidential bid — the group brought in roughly $145 million. A state-level committee that once raised money for the governor’s 2022 reelection campaign transferred more than $80 million to the super PAC last year, a financial flex that made Never Back Down one of the most well-funded outside groups in U.S. politics.

By the end of 2023, however, the group had spent all but just $14.5 million, according to its federal filings. In the second half of the year, Never Back Down dropped nearly $97 million but only raised about $14.5 million.

While DeSantis was still a candidate, the group often boasted about its expansive field organizing and canvassing efforts in early voting states — most notably Iowa, the first-in-the-nation caucus state that DeSantis and his allies placed a heavy political bet on.

From July to January, Never Back Down dropped about $23 million on canvassing and field operations, as well as millions more on polling, payroll costs, consulting fees and transportation, according to its federal filings. The group also transferred nearly $10 million to another super PAC, Fight Right, that was formed in November by allies of DeSantis amid a series of shake-ups on Never Back Down’s team.

Never Back Down’s money troubles also coincided with internal turmoil at the group. In November, the super PAC’s CEO Chris Jankowski resigned following days of infighting. His departure was followed by several others, including Jeff Roe, the Republican strategist who was largely credited for the super PAC’s strategy.

Entities tied to Roe were paid more than $36 million by the super PAC in the second half of 2023, for services including canvassing and field operations, media buying, political strategy consulting and graphic design. The DeSantis campaign also paid more than $100,000 to Axiom Strategies, the political consulting firm run by Roe.

READ MORE: DeSantis changes tune on mainstream media: ‘I should’ve gone on all the corporate shows’

DeSantis down, Haley up

The lackluster fundraising performance of both the DeSantis campaign and super PAC came amid a surge in support for Haley’s campaign and the super PAC supporting her candidacy. Haley’s campaign brought in four times more in political contributions than the DeSantis campaign raised in the final three months of the year. That came after the DeSantis campaign outraised Haley’s campaign by more than $2 million in the prior three months.

And the Haley super PAC the SFA Fund, which backs Haley, reported raising more than $50 million in the second half of 2023 — thanks in part to former top DeSantis donors. Its top donors included former top DeSantis backer Ken Griffin.

The hedge fund billionaire gave $5 million to the pro-Haley group in December, a little more than one year after he had publicly pledged to support DeSantis in his presidential bid. Former Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner, another former top DeSantis donor, also gave more than $200,000 to the pro-Haley group.

This story was originally published February 1, 2024 at 5:30 AM.