Joe Skipper | Reuters Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is planning a private fundraiser in Utah later this month that is expected to attract some of the nation’s wealthiest Republican donors as he signals a possible 2024 presidential run. DeSantis is set to head to Utah the week of July 18 for the private gathering, according to people familiar with the matter. Many asked not to be named because the campaign is trying to keep the private event from drawing too much public attention. Although DeSantis is coming to Utah to raise money for his 2022 gubernatorial re-election campaign, fundraisers held in faraway states like Utah, which is more than 2,000 miles from his home state, often suggest national aspirations. The state is known to be a GOP stronghold. Utah voters have chosen a Republican for president in each of the last six elections. Former President Donald Trump beat Joe Biden in the state by 20 percentage points in 2020. Carson Jorgensen, chairman of the Utah Republican Party, said the state party is not co-hosting the event but will likely send someone to what is expected to include breakfast and lunch with DeSantis. He noted that the event is hosted privately and closed to the press. “We just want to see more events happen in the state that support great candidates across the country,” Jorgensen said in a text message. He did not confirm the date of the gathering or who will host DeSantis. DeSantis spokeswoman Lindsey Curnutte would not confirm any details, saying the campaign does not “discuss private fundraising events with members of the press.” DeSantis hasn’t declared a run for president, but he hasn’t ruled it out. In a recent Fox News interview, he didn’t dismiss the idea of running for president — even if it meant first defeating Trump in the Republican primary. “Nice try, man,” DeSantis quipped in an interview with Fox News last month, declining to answer when asked if he would engage in a primary feud with Trump in a White House campaign. A person who helped organize the fundraiser this month said many donors from around the country have been invited and will attend the rally in Utah, but are trying to prevent Trump from taking notice. The invitations have been sent verbally, rather than by email, to limit any paper trails, this person said. Donors have been told that meetings with DeSantis in Utah are likely to begin in the early morning of July 19. The other reason DeSantis is keeping the event under the radar, this person added, is to avoid appearing to be preparing to face Trump in the 2024 Republican primary and incurring the former president’s ire. An Emerson College poll conducted last month shows Trump as the clear favorite over any other potential contender for the Republican nomination in 2024. The poll showed him with 55 percent of voters’ support if he were to seek the Republican nomination. , with DeSandis coming in second with 20%. DeSantis has become a fan favorite of most of the GOP’s mega-donors, many of whom have helped him raise more than $100 million for his 2022 re-election bid in Florida and seek alternatives to be their Republican nominee for president in 2024. Axios reported that an outside group is gathering more than 1 million names of DeSantis supporters in case the Florida governor ends up running for president. In a recent interview with Newsmax, Trump said he’s on good terms with DeSandis and didn’t rule out the Florida governor being his running mate if the former president ran for the White House again in 2024. Trump didn’t rule out possibility of running for president again after losing to Biden two years ago. While Trump won Utah in 2020, DeSantis has allies in that state and traveled in the past as governor. DeSantis spoke in Utah last year before the American Legislative Exchange Council. His comments included mocking the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, encouraging those vaccinated against Covid-19 to wear masks in states where the coronavirus is spreading.
CNBC Politics
Read more about CNBC’s political coverage: DeSantis’ re-election campaign has raised more than $25,000 from Utah donors in the 2022 election cycle, according to Florida state records. Friends of Ron DeSantis, the political action committee supporting DeSantis, has brought in more than $430,000 from in-state donors. Nomi Health is one of DeSantis’ supporters in Utah. The health care company donated $100,000 to the Friends of Ron DeSantis PAC last year after it reportedly received nearly $50 million in a no-deal Covid-related job offer from the governor’s administration, according to campaign finance records. Since then, another $50,000 came from Nomi Health in June. Nomi’s Health CEO Mark Newman and the company did not respond when asked if they would attend or co-host the DeSantis meeting in Utah.
