Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley each raised over $1 million apiece in the 24 hours after Wednesday’s Republican presidential debate, their campaigns said Friday.
DeSantis spokesman Andrew Romeo painted the cash haul as a sign of accelerating momentum for the campaign following a strong debate performance — and the key endorsement from Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds last week.
Haley campaign spokesperson Olivia Perez-Cubas, meanwhile, pointed to Haley’s “surging” in recent polls as proof that “voters love her toughness and moral clarity.” The campaign has also been touting Haley’s electability, especially after the recent release of a slate of different head-to-head polls from The New York Times and Siena College.
Neither campaign offered more details about their fundraising hauls, such as what share was from small donors versus larger contributors, though the Haley campaign did say the day after the debate was its best small-dollar fundraising day to date.
DeSantis and Haley are locked in a battle for second place in Iowa, the first caucus state, where a recent NBC News/Des Moines Register/Mediacom poll showed the two tied at 16% — well behind former President Trump at 43%.
The back and forth between the two candidates has been escalating in recent weeks, including on Wednesday’s debate stage, where they went at each other over China and energy policy.
