How DeSantis plans to fight marijuana and abortion on the ballot

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis won’t be on the ballot this November, but he won’t be on the sidelines, either.

DeSantis, who ended a presidential campaign earlier this year, is planning to raise money for a ‘counter message’ to recreational marijuana and abortion-rights ballot amendments and then funnel that money through the Republican Party of Florida to campaign against the initiatives, according to sources.

He’s also planning to use his personal network to fund contentious races for federal candidates, including former President Donald Trump, and Republican U.S. Rep. Laurel Lee.

DeSantis, who shattered Florida fundraising records while easily winning reelection in 2022, will be in Miami Beach on May 13 to help the Tampa-area congresswoman raise money, according to a flier obtained by the Herald/Times. He also has a fundraiser for Trump tentatively scheduled for the second half of May, according to one advisor.

DeSantis’ campaign plans were described to the Herald/Times by four of the governor’s political advisors who said he emerged from his failed presidential campaign determined to remain engaged in politics in and outside of Florida.

“Gov. DeSantis is arguably the second-most popular Republican in the entire country and an incredibly prodigious fundraiser,” said Slater Bayliss, a Republican consultant who served on the DeSantis presidential campaign’s national finance advisory board. “Given the stakes of this election, I would expect you will see him helping Republicans out in key races up and down the ballot around the country.”

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HOW DESANTIS PLANS TO FIGHT THE BALLOT MEASURES

DeSantis has already been vocal about his opposition to ballot questions that in November will ask voters to enshrine access to abortion and cannabis use in the state constitution. But an important step in formally launching campaigns will take place Saturday morning, when the Republican Party of Florida will vote on its position on recreational marijuana during its quarterly meeting in Orlando.

The party, which already formally took a position against the abortion amendment, plans to vote to oppose the legalization of recreational use of cannabis for adults. Once that happens, it will be in position to initiate “vote no” campaigns on marijuana and abortion.

“We support killing the [marijuana and abortion] amendments as a party because it’s not good policy for the state,” Republican Party of Florida Chair Evan Power told the Herald/Times. “When you look at it, it seems like these amendments are out of step with what Floridians want. In 2022, Democrats made abortion their most important issue, and we won by 20 points.”

DeSantis then plans to use his network to raise money for the “vote no” campaigns on marijuana and abortion, using the party apparatus as the vehicle, according to one of several advisors granted anonymity to speak candidly.

“It’s going to be through the party,” the advisor told the Herald/Times. “The governor will use his financial position to raise money for a counter message for both of those amendments.”

DeSantis is also expected to use his fundraising network to help candidates in contentious races up and down the ballot, including for Trump. But how successful he’ll be in leveraging his network for Trump remains an open question, according to the advisor.

“My opinion is, Ron, when he ran for re-elect, he raised a lot of money. But when he ran for president, he wasn’t able to replicate that,” said the advisor. “It’ll be interesting to see if he will be effective in raising money for Trump. You have to work the phones and do events. It takes real effort.”

Brian Hughes, a Trump campaign senior advisor, wouldn’t say anything definitive about planned DeSantis fundraising efforts for Trump, only that “DeSantis made a commitment to do whatever is needed to get President Trump elected, so we expect that includes fundraising efforts.”

But a second DeSantis advisor said the governor is working on a fundraiser for Trump in the second half of May, adding, “we’re already putting stuff together for that.”

A third DeSantis advisor said his team had been pushing DeSantis to mend ties with Trump since he dropped out of the presidential race at the end of January. DeSantis and Trump patched things up on April 28 in a private meeting in Miami, the Washington Post first reported.

“That took convincing,” the third advisor said.

DESANTIS HELPING HIS FRIENDS

DeSantis is lending his fundraising prowess to other allies.

Lee, who worked in DeSantis’ administration and was the only Florida member of Congress who endorsed him in his run for president, might need the help, considering Trump called for a ‘MAGA’ candidate to primary her.

Lee declined to go into details through her spokesperson, Sarah Bascom.

“The Congresswoman is very appreciative of the help from the Governor, but as a policy, we don’t discuss the details of our fundraising activities,” Bascom told the Herald/Times.

DeSantis already campaigned last month for U.S. Rep. Chip Roy, of Texas, during three different events in Palm Beach, Naples, and Odessa, a northwest suburb of Tampa, according to fliers obtained by the Herald/Times.

Roy said his fundraising swing through Florida with DeSantis was “very successful,” declining to say specifically how much was raised.

“I raised a significant amount of money for my quarter,” Roy said. “My team worked in coordination with [DeSantis’] in Florida. He’s got a loyal group of supporters in Florida and increasingly nationwide.”

Roy spent about a month with DeSantis on the campaign trail, mostly in Iowa, but also briefly in New Hampshire and South Carolina. He said that DeSantis connected to voters on the ground but that he couldn’t overcome the media attention focused on Trump.

The campaign “didn’t end up where we wanted, but we got out and engaged with the community, and when he did, we won people over,” Roy said. “Even the ones that didn’t support him and supported Trump were still huge fans.”