DeSantis campaign says it raised $8.2 million in first 24 hours

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis raised $8.2 million in his first 24 hours as a presidential candidate, his campaign said Thursday, a huge sum that cements his position as Donald J. Trump’s main rival.

Mr. DeSantis’ campaign kicked off Wednesday night with a hiccup on Twitter, but that apparently couldn’t dampen backers’ enthusiasm. The campaign said Wednesday it had raised $1 million in one hour.

The $8.2 million figure is more than the $6.3 million that Joseph R. Biden Jr. in his first 24 hours as a candidate in 2019, or the $6.1 million former Representative Beto O’Rourke raised that same year.

The DeSantis amount includes both online contributions and donations raised by bundlers who gathered at 10:30 a.m. Thursday in the grand ballroom at the Four Seasons in Miami for what was called a Ron-O-Rama to call to collect money. raise for the campaign.

A donor who called into the room first announced that they had raised $8.2 million and Bryan Griffin, a spokesperson for Mr. DeSantis, confirmed the figure. All funds are so-called hard dollars that the campaign can use.

It was not immediately clear how many donors contributed in the first 24 hours.

A super PAC supporting Mr. DeSantis plans a $200 million budget, but campaign funds are much harder to raise because they face a strict donation cap.

The $8.2 million that Mr. DeSantis brought in far surpassed how Mr. Trump began his 2024 fundraising efforts in late 2022. Mr. Trump had raised about $9.5 million in the six weeks since announcing his campaign in mid-November.