Today, while Governor Ron DeSantis was suspending democracy in Florida and overturning the votes of 369,129 people in Hillsborough County who elected their state prosecutor, he took the time to complain about out-of-state donors trying to influence elections in the state. This was an interesting point of contention from a Governor who has taken millions from out-of-state donors in his relentless quest to climb the national political ladder using Floridians as stepping stones.
In fact, a DeSantis Watch analysis of public campaign finance records shows that Governor Ron DeSantis has accepted at least $90,664,181 from out-of-state donors in order to feed his political career. This analysis examined donations to Friends of Ron DeSantis since the Governor declared his campaign in 2018, as well as donations to the Republican Party of Florida since January 1, 2019, days before he was sworn into office, and only takes into account donations of $5,000 or more. The list of out-of-state donors includes numerous billionaires, many of the country’s largest corporations, and Washington DC based special interests.
“Ron DeSantis wants to criminalize women seeking abortions and he is being fueled by millions of dollars in out-of-state donations in order to achieve that goal,” said DeSantis Watch Communications Director Anders Croy. “Florida’s Governor only cares about appealing to extremists outside the state of Florida and doing the bidding of his corporate donors in order to advance his own personal political ambitions. Rather than working to solve real issues facing the people of Florida like our state’s housing affordability crisis, Ron DeSantis continues to try to divide and distract from his failed leadership with political stunts because the only thing Ron DeSantis cares about is himself.”
Data used to compile this analysis can be provided upon request.