It’s being reported this morning that Governor DeSantis will finally file the required paperwork and announce his 2024 presidential bid next week ahead of a meeting with top financial backers.
FOX NEWS – After months of buildup and speculation, Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida is expected to officially enter the 2024 White House race next week.
The popular two-term conservative governor will file formal paperwork with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) next week to declare his candidacy for president, sources familiar with the governor’s decision confirm to Fox News. The news was first reported by the Wall Street Journal.
The filing by DeSantis will coincide with his meeting next week in Miami, Florida with top financial backers, one source told Fox Digital. By law, DeSantis cannot receive or ask for contributions for a presidential campaign unless he has formally declared his candidacy.
By filing with the FEC, DeSantis would be free to solicit donations from donors at the gathering in Miami, which would set in motion a likely fundraising blitz.
DeSantis set a gubernatorial fundraising record last cycle, and had $110 million cash on hand in his fundraising committees at the start of the spring. Much of that money could likely be transferred to Never Back Down, a super PAC backing the expected DeSantis presidential campaign.
A formal campaign kick-off event will likely take place sometime after next week’s donor gathering, but no details have been shared by the campaign.
As we wrote last week, DeSantis did move his campaign office on Monday which triggered a 15 day time period in which he must file the paperwork and announce:
DeSantis has made a series of moves in recent days indicating that a campaign launch would be imminent.
Among them was the move Monday by DeSantis’ political team from the Republican Party of Florida headquarters — where it has been housed following last November’s gubernatorial election — to new offices.
Additionally, a further signal was the move by the governor last week to sever ties with Friends of Ron DeSantis, his longtime political state committee, in order to comply with federal campaign finance regulations.
I did some checking and this meeting with financial backers should happen on next Wednesday and Thursday.
I expect we’ll know as soon as DeSantis files the paperwork and I would be surprised if there wasn’t some flashy video or campaign announcement to go along with this.
Either way, it’s about time for this to happen so that we can move along with the campaigning. I look forward to seeing how DeSantis decides to deal with the elephant in the room.