- Following a competitive primary against Ag Commissioner Nikki Fried last month, Charlie Crist now faces a huge cash disparity in the general election
- Crist’s cash reserves are depleted, while DeSantis spent the primary season adding to his arsenal
- DeSantis has spent about $6 million since the primary, while Crist has spent $184,000
Gov. Ron DeSantis collected about $1.95 million for his political committee and campaign from Aug. 20 through Aug. 26, while Democratic gubernatorial nominee Charlie Crist pulled in nearly $1.79 million, according to finance reports posted Friday on the state Division of Elections website.
The reports offer the first glimpses of fundraising and spending after Crist won the Aug. 23 Democratic gubernatorial primary and set up the Nov. 8 general-election race with DeSantis.
The Friends of Ron DeSantis committee raised $1.138 million from Aug. 20 through Aug. 26, while it spent $3.36 million. It had about $120.3 million in cash on hand as of Aug. 26. Much of the spending during the period — $3 million — involved funneling money to the Republican Party of Florida, according to the committee’s finance report. Meanwhile, DeSantis raised almost $815,000 for his separate campaign account, while spending $2.64 million. The campaign account had about $8.27 million on hand as of Aug. 26.
Crist’s Friends of Charlie Crist committee raised nearly $774,000 during the period, while spending about $77,000. It had about $1.36 million on hand as of Aug. 26. Crist also collected $1.015 million for his campaign account, while spending more than $107,000. The campaign account had about $1.82 million on hand.