Crist Receives Post-Primary Boost in Fundraising After Clinching Nomination, Still Sags Behind DeSantis

TALLAHASSE (FLV) – As August campaign finance reports come in post-Florida primary, now-Democrat nominee for governor Charlie Crist received a strong funding boost almost rivaling that of Gov. Ron DeSantis.

Candidates and committees have fundraising reports throughout August. Most recent reports via the Florida Department of State cover Aug. 20-26, the three days before and after the Aug. 23 primary election.

In total, from Aug. 20-26, DeSantis raised a combined ~$1.953 million. The incumbent has long seen massive fundraising blowouts since his re-election campaign picked up, with a war chest estimated to be around $130 million.

During the same time period, Crist raised ~$1.788 million, perilously close to matching DeSantis’ numbers.

For the entire month, however, DeSantis remains by-far the most funded, raising ~$10.5 million from July 30-Aug. 26 to Crist’s $3.4 million.

As of Aug. 26, Crist has a reported campaign war chest of just above $3 million.

According to the most recent poll aggregated by RealClearPolitics for the governor’s race, DeSantis is leading Crist by 8 points, pre-primary. No polls have been aggregated since the period from Aug. 8-12 in a University of North Florida poll.

FiveThirtyEight has recent polls sponsored by Democrat firms – Florida Watch, Progress Florida, and the Democrat Governors Association – giving DeSantis a smaller lead. Post-primary, Clarity Campaign Labs reports DeSantis with just a 3 point lead. The pollster has called just 54% of races correctly, FiveThirtyEight says.

Of the most recent polls, FiveThirtyEight marks University of North Florida – which shows DeSantis up 8 points – as the highest rated pollster since July 30.