TALLAHASSEE – U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds’ campaign raised $14 million in the last two months, easily outpacing his Republican and Democratic rivals in the race to replace term-limited Gov. Ron DeSantis.
Between his campaign account and political committee, Donalds has $65.8 million cash on hand as of June 1, according to campaign finance reports tracking fundraising from April 1 to May 31.
Qualifying for the governor’s race is set to end at noon Friday, and Donalds’ opponents are lagging him in fundraising. But GOP rival Lt. Gov. Jay Collins pulled in a $5 million contribution to give his campaign a boost.
Propel Florida LLC, a group formed to combat Big Tech firms, made the $5 million donation. In all, Collins has nearly $6 million in his campaign account and political committee combined as of June 1.
Former House Speaker Paul Renner, a Palm Coast Republican, raised $105,000 in the last two months in his campaign and political committee, and has nearly $3.2 million cash on hand.
Conservative activist James Fishback raised about $450,000 in the reporting period but has spent most of it, and has $112,000 cash on hand as of June 1. His campaign finance report shows nearly $1,600 in expenses May 27-29 at the Dolphin Resort in Lake Buena Vista. Social media posts show he spent his honeymoon at nearby Disney World at that time after getting married.
For Democratic field, it was largely cleared when Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings announced earlier this month he’s dropping his gubernatorial campaign after being diagnosed with prostate cancer.
That leaves former U.S. Rep. David Jolly as the only major Democratic candidate.
Jolly raised $1.2 million in April and May but has spent much of the $6 million he’s raised in the campaign so far, leaving him with $2 million cash on hand entering June.
When Demings made his announcement stepping out of the race, Jolly and Donalds each expressed well wishes to him and his family, then pivoted to the general election.
“With the announcement of Jerry Demings dropping out of the Democrat primary for Governor, the general election starts today,” Donalds posted on X.
Jolly on Wednesday named former U.S. Rep. Gwen Graham as his running mate, an announcement typically reserved for after the primary.
READ MORE: David Jolly adds Gwen Graham to anticipated Democratic ticket
Donalds leads in most reputable polls but could need to spend some of his war chest to contend with his GOP primary opponents.
The primary election is Aug. 18, and the general election is Nov. 3.
