ELECTION UPDATE: DeSantis Crushes Democrat Opponents in Fundraising

February 11, 2022 Updated 1:44 P.M. ET

TALLAHASSEE (FCV) – According to January 2022 campaign finance activity from the Florida Division of Elections, Governor Ron DeSantis (R) is starkly outpacing his Democratic opponents in fundraising.

DeSantis received $2.27 million directly and $7.7 million via his committee, Friends of Ron DeSantis. January was DeSantis’ best fundraising month of his 2022 campaign individually. It was his second best fundraising of all time for his committee.

January’s fundraising for DeSantis puts his monthly total at just below $10 million.

DeSantis’ numbers show a strong increase in momentum.

Democrat opponent Charlie Crist clocked in with $436 thousand raised individually and $278 thousand raised via his committee, Friends of Charlie Crist. Crist’s total for January is approximately $714 thousand.

DeSantis has raised more than 10 times that of Crist in January.

Florida Agriculture Commissioner and gubernatorial candidate Nikki Fried (D) raised $171 thousand individually and $142 thousand via her associated committee, Florida Consumers First. This puts her January total raised at around $313 thousand, less than half that of Crist.

Fried’s funding comes in even worse compared to Crist. Her fundraising has steeply slowed down and is seeing no change in momentum at the start of the new year.

While it is too early to gauge accurate vote percentages and win margins for the 2022 Florida gubernatorial election, a new poll from Suffolk University showed DeSantis leading Fried by 11 points and Crist by 6 points. The poll sampled 500 likely voters from January 26-January 29.

A similar poll from Suffolk University and USA Today, a traditionally left-wing corporate media outlet, also found DeSantis beating President Joe Biden (D) in a head-to-head matchup for president in 2024 52% to 44%. Donald Trump, on the other hand, would only have beaten Biden by 3%, 47% to 44%.

Biden is hitting record low approval ratings even in aggregates while DeSantis is seeing an uptick in popularity and fundraising.

Currently, DeSantis is running for Governor of Florida and has not said he is running for President in 2024.