One of Ron DeSantis’ major donors said he will no longer give money to the governor’s campaign unless he starts to win over moderates, Reuters reports.
Robert Bigelow, the founder of Las Vegas-based Bigelow Aerospace, gave $20 million to the pro-DeSantis “Never Back Down” super PAC in March, making him the largest individual donor to the governor’s presidential bid.
Now, he’s pulling his support for DeSantis unless he attracts new major donors and adopts a more moderate approach.
“He does need to shift to get to moderates. He’ll lose if he doesn’t,” Bigelow told Reuters in an interview. “Extremism isn’t going to get you elected.”
Bigelow cited Florida’s six-week abortion ban which DeSantis signed into law in April as an example of the “extreme policy” that led to the decision to cut off donations to his campaign. He told Reuters that six weeks was too early and that many women do not even know they are pregnant at that stage.
Bigelow said donations will resume when “I see that he’s able to generate more on his own. I’m already too big a percentage.”
“A lot of his donors are still on the fence,” he added.
Bigelow’s decision comes as the DeSantis campaign reduced staff and is struggling to meet fundraising goals. DeSantis is also failing to put a dent in Donald Trump’s massive lead in the Republican primary polls.
Bryan Griffin, a spokesperson for the DeSantis campaign did not address Bigelow’s decision to cut off funding. Instead, Griffin told Reuters that they are “grateful” to supporters and donors who gave them “the capacity to compete for the long haul.”
Featured Image by Channing Rucks/The Herald
