DeSantis announces $15 million fundraising haul, will move staff to Iowa

Gov. Ron DeSantis’ campaign said Wednesday that it raised $15 million over the last quarter and will move a large number of staffers from Florida to Iowa as he intensifies his push in the first-in-the-nation caucus state.

“The significant fundraising haul not only provides us with the resources we need in the fight for Iowa and beyond, but it also shuts down the doubters who counted out Ron DeSantis for far too long,” campaign manager James Uthmeier said in a statement.

News of the cash infusion and staff transfers from Tallahassee to Des Moines — which were reported Wednesday by The New York Times and confirmed by a campaign spokesperson — come as DeSantis has fallen back in primary polling. The transfers amount to one-third of his total staff, the campaign said. The $15 million, which the campaign said was raised between his campaign committee, leadership PAC and joint fundraising committee, is less than the $20 million DeSantis brought in during the previous fundraising quarter.

DeSantis is banking heavily on a strong showing in Iowa, where his advisers believe his conservative record has particular appeal. He has also recently been stepping up his attacks on the frontrunner, former President Donald Trump.

The Florida governor made a point of attacking Trump during the second primary debate last week for failing to show up, and subsequently challenged him to a one-on-one faceoff. He has since been continuing his critiques, recently accusing the ex-president of failing to secure the Southern border.

“I will fulfill the promise that Donald Trump made in 2016 to build the wall and make Mexico pay for it,” DeSantis posted Wednesday on X, the site formerly known as Twitter.

DeSantis’ campaign has leaned heavily on a super PAC funded in large part with more than $82 million from one of his Florida accounts. At the same time, he has been hosting fundraisers across the country as he tries to persuade donors he is their only viable option to defeat President Joe Biden — despite some polling that shows Trump ahead in a general election.

The news comes as DeSantis falls to third in New Hampshire in a new poll, behind former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley. He continues to maintain his second-place standing in Iowa and has received praise from popular Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds and evangelical leader Bob Vander Plaats. In a recent interview, a DeSantis official said the campaign would be satisfied with a strong second-place showing in Iowa, where Trump continues to lead polls.