Fifteen Republican men and women are running for their party’s 2024 presidential nomination. That number comes from Politico’s recent roundup of second-quarter campaign fund reporting, and it serves as a reminder that while former President Trump has all but been handed the keys to the GOP for the next year, it is not a done deal. Surely one or more of these candidates will bump up into double-digit poll numbers once five or more of those declared are weeded out.
In any event, the report in Politico gives us the opportunity to keep tabs on this dozen-and-a-third.
Donald J. Trump, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (already declared “done” in some GOP camps) and North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum have the biggest war chests so far, according to this: https://www.politico.com/newsletters/weekly-score/2023/07/17/whos-winning-the-presidential-fundraising-game-00106538
Each of the following candidates has raised between $1 million and $10 million, so far:
•Vivek Ramaswamy – MAGA-right tech entrepreneur is a “woke-buster” with an America first vision “even more (so) than Trump,” according to the New York Post.
•Sen. Tim Scott (SC) – The party’s first Black senator from the South since Reconstruction, according to The Guardian.
•Nikki Haley – Former governor of South Carolina and former UN ambassador for the Trump administration.
•Perry Johnson – Founder of 80 companies worldwide according to Wikipedia, the entrepreneur has written several books on international quality control standards and customs and ran for the GOP nomination for governor of his home state, Michigan, in 2022.
•Ryan Binkley – Pastor and the CEO of a Texas mergers & acquisitions firm.
•Chris Christie – Former New Jersey governor and onetime Trump ally who is running to make sure Trump does not get a third GOP presidential nomination.
•Mike Pence – You know.
These GOP candidates raised less than $1 million in the second quarter:
•Francis Suarez – Mayor of Miami. See “Is This Anything?” June 14, page 2 < https://thehustings.news/is-this-anything/>
•Asa Hutchinson – Former Arkansas governor, also in the Christie/anti-Trump camp.
•Larry Elder – Long time conservative radio personality who, at least, has something new and different to talk about, presumably.
•Will Hurd – Republican congressman who served Texas’ 23rd District, 2015-21. He lost the 2020 Republican primary to current Rep. Tony Gonzalez, in a runoff. Also a former CIA clandestine officer and more recently a former OpenAI board member.
_______________________________________________
DeSantis $ v. Trump Change
MONDAY-WEDNESDAY 7/17-19/23
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis raised $20.1 million for his presidential campaign in the second quarter of the year, Politico reports, but more than $3 million of that is earmarked for the general election, which means he can’t spend that until – and if, of course – he wins the GOP primary next year.
Hold back that $3 mil and DeSantis is slightly below former President Trump’s $17.7 million for the same period. Trump’s third campaign has $22.5 million total cash on hand.
Trump’s campaign records show he raised $14.6 million of that from donations of $200 or less, compared with $2.8 million to DeSantis from the same “small” donors, according to Politico.
North Dakota’s well-heeled governor, Doug Burgum, came in third among Republicans, having raised $11.8 million, of which $10.2 million was from his own wallet.
•••
In the Center Column -- Read our latest data news feature from Stacker, “Landmark Supreme Court Cases and Chief Justices of Their Time,” an excellent roundup of 230 years’ worth of the most important key decisions affecting our democracy.
In this column, below…
•Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) scored a huge victory as House speaker last week with passage of the $886-billion National Defense Authorization Act, 219-210, mostly along party lines. [Four Republicans voted against it, and four center-leaning Democrats voted for it.] But can the Democratic-controlled Senate negotiate a final bill to help complete the federal budget before it’s due September 30?
•Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who is trying to grab the GOP back from the former president called crowd estimates of up to 50,000 for Donald J. Trump’s rallies “absurd.”How to comment: Go to the Comment line below or in the left column if you lean conservative, or email editors@thehustings.news and list in the subject line the column in which your opinions belong.