His reelection campaign has raised over $31.4 million since January 2021, and Friends of Ron DeSantis, his state-level PAC that is not subject to contribution limits, raked in $146 million since January 2019.

Florida voters elected DeSantis to the U.S. House in 2012, where he served three terms before resigning in 2018 to run for governor, which he won by less than 34,000 votes. DeSantis' first term has been defined by culture war clashes – he's been the public face of polarizing policies including the so-called "Don't Say Gay Bill," which prohibits kindergarten through third-grade teachers from discussing gender and sexual identity in the classroom. 

DeSantis took credit Thursday for sending two planes of migrants without notice to Martha's Vineyard in Massachusetts, telling CNN that all American communities should share the "burden."