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By
comparison, Trump's main fundraising committee took in about $35
million in the second quarter even as the former president's
legal troubles mounted, a sizeable increase from the previous
quarter.
“We are grateful for the investment so many Americans have made
to get this country back on track," DeSantis' campaign manager,
Generra Peck, said in a statement.
The primary super PAC backing DeSantis' bid, Never Back Down,
which handles many on-the-ground operations in early voting
states, said separately on Thursday it had brought in $130
million since its formation in March.
The haul appeared to include just over $80 million that the
committee received in May from a committee tied to DeSantis'
re-election effort in the 2022 Florida gubernatorial campaign.
Campaign finance experts have argued that the transfer may have
flouted campaign-finance rules that require super PACs to be
independent of the candidates they support.
MAGA Inc, the Trump counterpart to DeSantis' Never Back Down,
has yet to disclose how much money it has raised this year. But
last year it received $60 million from another committee tied to
Trump.
DeSantis' fundraising tally in the six weeks since he launched
his campaign suggests a significant share of Republican donors
are seeking an alternative to Trump in the party primary that
begins early next year. The nominee will face President Joe
Biden in November 2024.
Even so, DeSantis largely has been unable to slice into Trump's
commanding lead in early polls, which have had the former
president ahead by as many as 30 percentage points.
(Reporting by James Oliphant, Additional reporting by Jason
Lange, editing by Ross Colvin and Alistair Bell)
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