The move, besides being out of the ordinary, raises ethical questions and shocked many Republican lobbyists who felt pressured to donate because they have business before the DeSantis administration.
The governor’s chief of staff, James Uthmeier, helped raise at least $423,042 for his presidential campaign in the hours after the May 24 launch.
Uthmeier’s haul made him one of top fundraisers for the campaign at the time. It created a scenario in which he was raising significant six-figure sums of political cash at a faster clip than many more traditional donors and political fundraisers were. Taryn Fenske, DeSantis' communications director, defended the use of state employees to raise money for DeSantis' presidential run.
A longtime Florida election law attorney last month told NBC News that even if the DeSantis administration officials are raising money for the campaign in their personal capacities, it represents a “misuse of public position … that is obvious to anyone paying attention.” “Candidates who are also public officials are supposed to draw a bright line between their campaign and their public office,” he said. “While this may not technically be a violation of the law, depending on whether it was done on state time and state property, it sure looks bad to the taxpaying public.
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