Republican U.S. presidential candidate and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis greets his supporters during the Never Back Down South Carolina Bus Tour at Revel Events Center in Greenville, South Carolina, U.S., October 4, 2023.
Alyssa Pointer | Reuters
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ presidential primary campaign raised $15 million over the past three months, while burning through around $11 million during the same period, according to Federal Election Commission records.
The totals represent both the DeSantis campaign and a joint fundraising committee called Team DeSantis 2024.
DeSantis’ campaign reported finishing the quarter with a little more than $12 million in cash on hand. The joint fundraising committee reported around $2 million in cash. These figures put the governor well behind GOP primary frontrunner Donald Trump and fellow Republican contender Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C.
DeSantis trails Trump in polls of likely primary voters by nearly 50 percentage points, according to a tracker from Morning Consult.
DeSantis continued to operate his presidential primary bid at a high burn rate last quarter, despite cutbacks to the number of staffers on the campaign payroll.
The $11 million that the campaign reported spending was roughly equivalent to how much the DeSantis campaign alone raised over the same period, without the help of the joint fundraising committee.
Over $10 million of that was used to pay for operational expenses, including just over $1 million in travel related items.
DeSantis’ campaign also reported spending at least $250,000 on private airfare.