Free Republic

The super PAC supporting the presidential campaign of Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida spent nearly $34 million in recent months, pouring money into voter outreach, advertising, polling, consultants and other expenses as his standing in the polls steadily slipped.[cut]Mr. DeSantis and his allies, however, are testing the limits of the campaign finance system. Never Back Down isn’t just supplementing the campaign’s work; it has taken over nearly every aspect of the DeSantis campaign — staging events that the candidate attends as a “special guest,” running a bus tour through Iowa and paying people to knock on voters’ doors to...

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’s weaker-than-expected campaign is prompting other Republicans, such as Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin and Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, to take a new look at running for president, GOP strategists say. These Republicans argue that DeSantis, long seen as the strongest potential challenger in a GOP primary to former President Trump, has failed to establish himself as the clear alternative. “I think his high point was right after the last election, when he was the brightest spot on an otherwise somewhat disappointing night for Republicans,” said GOP strategist Vin Weber, commenting on the big DeSantis reelection victory for...