Gov. Ron DeSantis’ latest campaign cash haul includes $25,000 each from Florida Realtors, Duke Energy and tobacco

Gov. Ron DeSantis continued to rebuild a political war chest in August, with his political committee pulling in $675,500 in contributions, according to a newly filed finance report.

The committee Friends of Ron DeSantis spent only $20,716 during the month and had nearly $2.5 million in available cash as of Saturday. The committee played an important role in DeSantis’ victory over Democrat Andrew Gillum in last year’s gubernatorial election.

In all, it has raised $43.58 million since January 2018, the finance report shows. During the past four months, it has been replenished with nearly $2.16 million in contributions.

The August contributions included $50,000 from a Florida Realtors political committee and $25,000 each from Duke Energy Florida, tobacco company Altria Client Services and an Associated Industries of Florida PAC.

In the 2018, both DeSantis and his Democratic opponent, Tallahassee mayor Andrew Gillum, were caught up in campaign-finance controversies. Gillum was the subject of an FBI probe and an ethics inquiry, and continues to get flamed online by attorney and onetime donor John Morgan for withholding millions in campaign cash.

DeSantis was criticized for receiving funding from Florida sugar corporations, insurance companies and hedge funds, and a donor who described President Barack Obama using the n-word.

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This article appears in Sep 4-10, 2019.