Takeaways from latest FEC campaign finance reports for 2024 presidential race

Republican presidential candidate Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis waves as he leaves the stage after speaking to the Christians United For Israel (CUFI) Summit 2023 in Arlington, Va., on Monday.

Jacquelyn Martin/AP

The latest campaign finance data was released Saturday and gives a window into financial stability of the presidential campaigns.

Here are a few takeaways from the Federal Elections Commission reports:

1. DeSantis has a small-donor problem, which could be a long-term issue

Ron DeSantis’ campaign is relying heavily on large donors, many of whom have already given the maximum allowed, as his campaign struggles to catch up to former President Trump in the GOP presidential primary, an NPR analysis of the most recent campaign finance data release shows.

In fact, 70% of DeSantis’ donors have given the max.

Just 15% of DeSantis’ contributions have come from small donors, those given less than $200. That indicates a potential long-term problem for the Florida governor’s campaign. After entering with much fanfare, a number that low indicates a lack of grassroots support. For context, the Trump joint fundraising committee in the 2022 midterm cycle and Vivek Ramaswamy, another GOP candidate, pulled in more than half of their totals from small donors.

The data also show that DeSantis spent roughly $8 million in the first five-and-a-half weeks of his campaign. That’s a rate of about $1.5 million a week. While DeSantis has raised the most money of the GOP presidential candidates – just over $20 million and still has $12 million cash on hand – at a rate of $1.5 million a week, he would need about $42 million more to make…