DeSantis committee tops $8.85M while Crist widens fundraising lead over Fried

Gov. Ron DeSantis’ political committee raised $8.853 million in May and had about $105 million on hand as he runs for a second term, according to a finance report posted Friday on the state Division of Elections website. 

The committee Friends of Ron DeSantis received 23 contributions of $100,000 or more during May, with the largest, $1.25 million, coming from the Republican Governors Association. The DeSantis committee also spent nearly $2.6 million during the month, with $2 million of that amount going to the Republican Party of Florida. 

State political candidates and committees faced a Friday night deadline for filing reports showing finance activity through May. As of early Friday evening, a report for DeSantis’ campaign account had not been posted.

In the Democratic gubernatorial race, candidate Charlie Crist raised more than $1 million in May for his political committee and campaign as he widened his fundraising lead over primary opponent Nikki Fried. 

Crist raised $517,490 for the committee Friends of Charlie Crist, which had $4.5 million on hand as of May 31, according to reports posted on the state Division of Elections website. Crist, a U.S. House member from St. Petersburg, also raised $492,732 for his campaign account and had nearly $1.85 million on hand. 

Fried, meanwhile, raised $107,667 during the month for the Florida Consumers First political committee, which had about $2.59 million on hand. Fried, the state agriculture commissioner, raised $194,861 for her campaign account, which had about $1.33 million on hand, the reports show.