The ratio of donations to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis that are small dollars is near the bottom of the Republican presidential candidates and far behind former President Donald Trump, Axios reported on Wednesday.
Small-dollar donations are considered among experts a crucial measure for the longevity of a presidential campaign, because donations of $200 or less are one of the clearest signals of grassroots enthusiasm for a candidate.
In addition, small-dollar donors are able to give more than once, while wealthy people often contribute the maximum amount allowed by law early in the campaign.
DeSantis has brought in only 17% from small-dollar donors, while 71% has come from people contributing $2,000 or more, according to FEC data.
This compares with 82% of the total raised from individual contributions by Trump's campaign since the start of the year coming from small-dollar donors.
Second behind Trump of GOP presidential candidates is entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy with 57.5% from small-dollar donors.
Ramaswamy has spent millions of his own money to fund his campaign and has made small-dollar support a priority of his fundraising, including by vowing to give backers a 10% cut of the total money they raise for his campaign.
Politico reported that, in general, the political world is facing a decline in the small donor dollars that drove recent cycles.
DeSantis communications director Andrew Romeo told Axios that “our campaign is grateful for the tens of thousands of grassroots supporters who have made it possible for us to build an unmatched organization in the early nominating states with the ability to compete for the long haul."
Earlier this year, the Republican National Committee announced new thresholds to qualify for presidential debates in an effort to increase grassroots fundraising operations from candidates.
The GOP, using a similar tactic that the Democrats did in 2020, are requiring that all candidates have at least 40,000 individual donors to qualify for the debate on Aug. 23.
Brian Freeman ✉
Brian Freeman, a Newsmax writer based in Israel, has more than three decades writing and editing about culture and politics for newspapers, online and television.
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