Gov. Ron DeSantis is trimming his campaign staff after burning through nearly $8 million of his $20 million second quarter fundraising haul in the first few weeks of the campaign.
DeSantis filed his second quarter fundraising report with the Federal Election Commission Saturday. It covers the period from the launch of his campaign on May 24 through June 30, and shows he had $12.2 million in cash on hand at the end of June, and $3 million of that only can be spent in the general election, not the primary.
NBC News reported Saturday that DeSantis’ campaign fired roughly a dozen staffers and more terminations are expected as it looks to trim costs. There are concerns that the campaign is spending money too quickly. There were 92 people on the campaign’s payroll at some point in the second quarter, which NBC described as “by far the most of any Republican presidential candidate.”
DeSantis’ fundraising report also shows he is relying heavily on larger donors. His campaign reported that $2.9 million of the $20 million came from donors who have given less than $200 to date, while the rest came from donors who gave $200 or more in aggregate.
DeSantis’ reliance on larger donors contrasts with former President Donald Trump, who has powered his campaign with an army of small donors.
Strong small donor fundraising can be a sign of grassroots enthusiasm for a campaign.
Trump currently leads DeSantis by 32 percentage points in the Real Clear Politics average of national GOP presidential primary polls.
DeSantis announced on July 6 that he raised $20 million in the second quarter, but the FEC report filed Saturday provides detailed information on his donors. It is the first fundraising report filed by DeSantis’ campaign.
The campaign reported $2.9 million in unitemized contributions from individual donors, and $16.9 million in itemized contributions. Presidential campaigns only are required to itemize contributions of $200 or greater, or when the aggregate of an individual’s contributions tops $200.
DeSantis is drawing more donations from his home state of Florida than any other state.
Among the itemized contributions DeSantis received, $6.8 million came from Florida, followed by $2.1 million from California, $2 million from Texas and $1.1 million from New York.
The campaign spent $867,583 on media placements and $730,497 on direct mail postage. Other expenses include $200,000 on SMS text messaging, $28,166 on donor mementos and $21,670 on campaign apparel.
There are $280,000 in payments to the Four Seasons Miami, where DeSantis supporters gathered to raise money after his kickoff event.
The DeSantis campaign didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment about the fundraising report.
Trump taunted DeSantis during a speech in West Palm Beach Saturday, calling on him to exit the race and use his campaign money to help the former president and the party win in 2024.
Trump said DeSantis needs to “get back here” to do his job as governor, and “Republicans should be using those funds to build a state-of-the-art vote-gathering operation.”
Never Back Down, a super PAC supporting DeSantis’ campaign, has collected $130 million. The PAC doesn’t have to disclose fundraising details until later this month. Most of its money was transferred from a state committee supporting DeSantis’ reelection campaign for governor.
USA TODAY National Political Correspondent David Jackson contributed to this report.
