Gov. Ron DeSantis’ failed presidential campaign and its affiliated super PAC, Never Back Down, spent a combined $158.5 million in 2023, an eye-popping sum for a candidate who didn’t win a single county in the lone state he competed in.
In total, the campaign and Never Back Down raised nearly $180 million in 2023, according to FEC filings late Wednesday. The report came out more than two weeks after he dropped out of the race following a second-place finish in the Iowa GOP caucuses to former President Donald Trump.
“I think this remains one of the most epic collapses of a presidential campaign in modern political history,” said David Jolly, a former Republican congressman from St. Petersburg and co-founder of the Forward Party. “And that’s not hyperbole.”
Never Back Down began with $82 million shifted over from a PAC supporting DeSantis’ 2022 reelection campaign as governor. The group formed in March “to urge” DeSantis to run for president and launched an anti-Trump ad a month before DeSantis announced his run in May.
Overall, the PAC raised more than $145.1 million, according to its FEC filing, and spent more than $130 million, leaving a balance of about $14.5 million. The campaign and super PAC continued to spend money in early 2024. Reports on how much aren’t due for months.
The DeSantis campaign itself raised about $35 million in 2023, though it only raised $6.7 million in the final three months of the year. The campaign had spent about $28 million by Dec. 31.
Despite federal rules that prevent coordination between a candidate and a PAC, Never Back Down essentially became DeSantis’ de facto campaign, with its events in Iowa and New Hampshire featuring “special guest” DeSantis.
“DeSantis was encumbered by some legal restrictions, but it largely was a DeSantis operation, operating within the required legal constraints,” Jolly said. “But he populated it with his friends and allies who thought like him, strategized like him…
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