Ron DeSantis Brings His Presidential Campaign To Texas
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and his Presidential campaign has hit the ground running and he is raising big time money. And when you want to raise even more big time money as a Republican candidate, you come to Texas.
DeSantis is set to make a fundraising swing through Texas June 7-9 stopping in six cities along the way. For those in Lubbock, if you want to see DeSantis, you will have to drive to another city, the closet being Midland. According to the Texas Tribune, DeSantis will be in Midland on June 7th before traveling to Fort Worth, Dallas and then Houston on the 8th. DeSantis will then stop in The Woodlands and Austin on June 9th.
DeSantis won't be the only Republican candidate for President in Texas next week as Nikki Haley will be fundraising in Midland, Houston, and Dallas June 6-8. The Texas Tribune reports that some big name donors are lining up for the fundraising stops.
In Midland, hosts for both the DeSantis and Haley events include S. Javaid Anwar, the Midland oil mogul who has been the single biggest donor to Gov. Greg Abbott over his long political career. Abbott himself has not ruled out a 2024 campaign.
DeSantis' Midland host committee names many other titans of the oil industry in West Texas, such as Ernest Angelo, Kyle Stallings and Douglas Scharbauer.
In Dallas, the DeSantis hosts include Oklahoma oil tycoon Harold Hamm, telecommunications billionaire Kenny Troutt and car-auction billionaire Jay Adair. The host list also features Phillip Huffines, the businessman brother of Don Huffines, the former state senator who challenged Abbott in the 2022 primary. Hamm is also on the host committee for Haley's Houston fundraiser.
And in Houston, the DeSantis hosts include major names in the city’s business community, such as commercial real-estate developers Alan Hassenflu and Richard Weekley. Both are in the leadership of Texans for Lawsuit Reform, the influential tort reform group in Austin.
The Houston hosts additionally include Clive Fields, a Houston doctor who already donated $500,000 to DeSantis’ Florida political committee in March.
Some of the donors have also given to former President Donald Trump in the past. So how much would a ticket set you back to attend one of the fundraisers? According to the Texas Tribune, anywhere from $3,300 per person to $13,200.