Is Ron DeSantis’ fundraising might waning?

Gov. Ron DeSantis just turned in a particularly weak fundraising quarter considering his track record.

Between July 1 and Sept. 30, DeSantis amassed $529,000 through the Florida Freedom Fund, a political committee used to defeat ballot measures he opposed last year, which he repurposed after the election to “elect strong leaders” in Florida.

In a vacuum, it’s not an insignificant haul. But the PC’s fundraising last quarter was less than a tenth of what it added in its first full quarter after it began operations in mid-May 2024, when it collected nearly $5.7 million. In the next quarter, it collected half that, $2.8 million. Then it raised $1.6 million and $1.3 million in the next two quarters, respectively.

Those receipts all paled in comparison to the sums the Governor stacked through another, now-closed state PC, which routinely registered quarterly sweeps in the millions and tens of millions.

In fact, the only time DeSantis’ old PC raised less than he did last quarter was in the first quarter of 2019, after he took his foot off the proverbial gas pedal following his first gubernatorial win, and when he and Cabinet members largely halted fundraising efforts during the height of the pandemic in 2020.

The Governor’s waning gains don’t evince the might necessary to carry an ally’s gubernatorial campaign. And with the runway to launch a campaign growing shorter by the day, it may further dispel expectations some observers still have that First Lady Casey DeSantis will run to succeed her husband in the wake of other, better-funded and more notably endorsed candidates.

More than a third of the money DeSantis’ PC collected last quarter — $200,000 — came from Associated Industries of Florida, a conglomeration of powerful business interests that recently took in hundreds of thousands from Google, TECO Energy and builder Philips Heavy Civil, and six-figure sums from insurer Florida Blue, Publix and AT&T.

DeSantis also took $25,000 from a PC associated with the Shumaker Advisors lobbying firm, and $10,000 from the PC of lobbyist Michael Corcoran, the brother of former House Speaker and Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran, who now serves as New College of Florida’s President.

From the real estate sector, DeSantis got $25,000 apiece from Jacksonville-based TVC Development and Lema Construction in St. Petersburg.

Twistee Treat, an ice cream company headquartered in Orlando, donated $25,000 too. The Tampa-based thoroughbred racing stable of late New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner gave $20,000. WS Media, a digital marketing agency in Sarasota, chipped in half that.

Close to 140 personal checks flowed into the Florida Freedom Fund in the third quarter, accounting for 91% of the Governor’s total donations, not based on dollar amount.

He got $25,000 each from Sarasota real estate developer Patrick Neal, who served in the Legislature from 1974-1986; Sarasota philanthropist Dennis McGillicuddy, a cable exec-turned-mogul of multiple industries, including real estate, recycling and wastewater treatment; Jacksonville philanthropist Scott MacKenzie, whose eponymous foundation funds human genetic research to cure diseases; and Bradenton’s Toni Azinger, the co-founder of the Florida Human Trafficking Victim Fund and the wife of golf pro Paul Azinger, with whom she founded a foster child care center.

DeSantis received $15,000 each from Bruce Cassidy, a former mining executive who now owns the Concession Golf Club, and West Coast Tomato farm owner Robert Spencer. Both are from Bradenton.

DeSantis also took $10,000 from insurance claims and consulting executive Rebecca Keiver and wastewater chemical management solutions executive Mark Stout, both from Sarasota.

The Florida Freedom Fund spent about $19,600 in Q3, leaving about $12.08 million left in its coffers heading into October.

That included $5,200 paid to Washington-based IMGE LLC for “digital consulting and email software.” The rest covered accounting and donation-processing fees.

Candidates and political committees faced a Friday deadline to report all campaign finance activity through Sept. 30.