DeSantis donors insist 'complete debate victory' fueled decision to put $25M towards TV ads: report

In an effort to push Florida Republican Governor Ron DeSantis higher in the polls over the next few months, the 2024 hopeful's fans and donors will put "at least $25 million" towards "television advertising in Iowa and New Hampshire," The Washington Post reports.

The Postreports:

The first months of the DeSantis effort have not been smooth, with substantial layoffs at the campaign, attempts to reset his message and tensions between the campaign and Never Back Down, which is paying for most of the effort to elect the governor despite federal rules that bar coordinating strategy directly with the candidate.

Per the report, earlier this week, the governor's donors were briefed on the ad plans over lunch ahead of the first GOP debate Wednesday in Milwaukee.

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According to ex-President Donald Trump's national chair — now DeSantis donor Roy Bailey, Roy Bailey, Wednesday's presentation gave the GOP hopeful's donors "confidence that his effort is moving in the right direction."

Never Back Down strategist "Jeff Roe just laid out a brilliant plan that is not only impressive but really believable and now we just got to go execute," Bailey said. "These are start-up businesses. They are not a perfect science. In any start-up business, you never know just what to expect so you have to retrofit it to be perfect."

Additionally, Never Back Down Chief Operating Officer Kristin Davidson told The Post, "After preseason dominance and a complete debate victory by Gov. DeSantis, we are now running aggressively into the political season while others are playing catch-up."

READ MORE: DeSantis' biggest donor says he won't give more money unless changes are made

The Washington Post's full report is available at this link (subscription required).