Outside of Donald Trump’s fascinating durability, maybe the most engaging narrative from the GOP primary season has been the rise and fall of Ron DeSantis.
The Florida governor started the season hot, poised to become the new GOP standard-bearer after dominating the 2022 gubernatorial election and building a national profile through culture war participation.
Republican citizens nationwide were looking to Florida as the paradigm-conservative society, the model upon which to build the entire country.
And in the eyes of those Republicans, Ron DeSantis was the man responsible for the Florida paradigm, the man capable of exporting that model nationwide.
Accordingly, the money starting pouring in.
“As [DeSantis] prepares to enter the presidential race in the coming weeks,” POLITICO wrote last April, “DeSantis sits atop accounts poised to support his candidacy that total more than $110 million, according to public filings and people who represent the entities.”
To put that in perspective, DeSantis’s cash reserves at the time were about double the cash reserves of Donald Trump.
But then things started to go sour for Ron DeSantis.
He picked a fight against one of his state’s biggest employers – Disney – who happens to be Florida’s biggest cultural exporter, in the process opening himself to GOP criticism for being anti-business.
Simultaneously, Trump began to surge in sync with the Democrats legal pursuits. Ron DeSantis lost traction in the polls.
Trump emerged as the clear cut favorite, a position he currently enjoys, raising the question: Can DeSantis use his cash advantage to make a comeback?
A Ron DeSantis comeback?
The likelihood that DeSantis can salvage his presidential campaign is low.
Multiple factors limit the viability of DeSantis’s campaign. First is just the simple nature of the political phenomenon that is Donald Trump. Put simply, the GOP belongs to Trump. He is the party’s most dominant figure since Reagan.
He’s a living martyr, growing more powerful with each indictment. He commands the zealous approval of a wide swath of the US population, and he commands the fearful respect of his political peers. DeSantis is going to have trouble making a dent against Trump not because of who DeSantis is but because of who Trump is.
Second, Ron DeSantis has failed to leverage his cash advantage – which now seems to be dwindling.
“Newly released financial filings show that [DeSantis’s] super PAC, Never Back Down, had nearly $97 million in cash on hand at the end of June, vastly more money than other Republicans in the race,” The New York Times reported. “But that haul may end up being a high-water mark, Since the close of the filing period, some top Republican donors have begun backing away from Mr. DeSantis as his campaign has floundered.”
Compounding the fact that DeSantis’s money isn’t coming in like it used to: the DeSantis campaign overspent. On luxury hotels and private jets and on a bloated ninety-person staff. On a massive voter contact program in the primary’s early voting states.
“It remains unclear whether Mr. DeSantis’s allies will be able to continue to raise the large sums of money required to sustain this gargantuan effort. His campaign has already fired more than a third of its staff to cut costs,” The New York Times reported.
Given the resilience of the Trump campaign, and given cash squandering of the DeSantis campaign, don’t expect much shuffling ini the GOP polls; expect Trump to come out on top.
Harrison Kass is the Senior Editor and opinion writer at 19FortyFive. An attorney, pilot, guitarist, and minor pro hockey player, Harrison joined the US Air Force as a Pilot Trainee but was medically discharged. Harrison holds a BA from Lake Forest College, a JD from the University of Oregon, and an MA from New York University. Harrison listens to Dokken.
From the Vault
Donald Trump May Have a New Problem: Melania Trump
Barack Obama Scolds Americans for Offering ‘Thoughts and Prayers’ During Maui Tragedy
Donald Trump Keeps Making ‘Chilling’ Threats That Could Land Him in Jail
