Ms. Mazza added that each Mr. DeSantis’s marketing campaign and the primary tremendous PAC supporting him, By no means Again Down, have been making an attempt to contact voters immediately, one thing she had seen firsthand. Two weeks in the past, she stated, area staff with By no means Again Down knocked on her door to make their pitch for Mr. DeSantis, who has at factors struggled in his retail interactions with voters.
“They clearly have a robust floor sport,” she stated.
And the glitchy on-line rollout didn’t cease Mr. DeSantis’s marketing campaign from elevating what it stated was a document haul of $8.2 million in contributions in its first 24 hours.
Cash could also be Mr. DeSantis’s biggest power within the race. By no means Again Down expects to have a funds of at the least $200 million to spend nationwide, together with greater than $80 million that’s being transferred from Mr. DeSantis’s state political fund-raising committee.
That switch has led to a proper criticism from a marketing campaign watchdog group. On Tuesday, the Marketing campaign Authorized Heart filed a criticism with the Federal Election Fee arguing that transferring the funds to By no means Again Down had violated guidelines in opposition to utilizing “tender” cash — {dollars} raised with out federally imposed limits — in a presidential marketing campaign. (The F.E.C. is deadlocked between the political events, and marketing campaign finance consultants say they doubt it might act on such a criticism.)
Representatives for Mr. DeSantis’s marketing campaign and By no means Again Down didn’t instantly reply to requests for remark.