佛罗里达州州长。罗恩·德桑蒂斯总统竞选经历了几次内部和外部挑战，但他的许多捐助者表示，他们站在“唯一能击败(前总统唐纳德·特朗普)的候选人”一边。
在过去的一个月里，德桑蒂斯的竞选团队处理了许多难题:最近的竞选经理变动，削减到超过三分之一的竞选工作人员、财务困难和收入下降民意测验.
最重要的是，德桑蒂斯的捐助群体正面临混乱。他最大的个人捐赠者，酒店企业家罗伯特·毕格罗，告诉路透社除非佛罗里达州州长吸引新的主要捐赠者并采取更温和的方式，否则他不会再捐款。共和党亿万富翁托马斯·彼得菲暂停他的财政支持因为他在社会问题上的立场。
但是尽管面临挑战，州长的一些最热心的捐助者继续支持他，说他仍然是总统的最佳人选。美国广播公司新闻采访了许多著名的捐助者，了解他们为什么坚持德桑蒂斯。
民意调查
销售精油的营销公司doTerra的创始人格雷格·库克(Greg Cook)在接受美国广播公司(ABC)采访时表示，他“一点也不担心”德桑蒂斯在全国和早期提名州的民意调查结果。
“现在还为时过早，德桑蒂斯州长被证明是前总统唐纳德·特朗普的唯一保守派替代者，”库克说。“共和党选民会像我一样很快明白，德桑蒂斯州长可以在剩下的两个完整任期内取得更大成就。”
库克支持州长已经有一段时间了，他作为佛罗里达州州长和最近的2022年连任竞选捐款为他的总统竞选捐赠了6600美元向与德桑蒂斯结盟的超级政治行动委员会捐赠5万美元，绝不让步。
丹·埃伯哈特(Dan Eberhart)是德桑蒂斯的捐赠者，也是科罗拉多州丹佛市钻井服务公司Canary的首席执行官，他已经向竞选活动捐赠了近1万美元，并与库克有着相同的观点:他认为德桑蒂斯是对抗特朗普的最佳人选。
“全国民调在这一点上并不重要，”埃伯哈特说。“德桑蒂斯是唯一能击败特朗普的候选人。没有其他人在投票中接近。”
资金流动
库克表示，他并不担心德桑蒂斯竞选团队的支出——根据财务文件，特别是在他竞选的前六周，该竞选团队消耗了近800万美元。
“每一次参选都是一次创业。现在是做出必要调整的时候了。竞选团队承认在战略上尝试了许多不同的方法，并根据数据做出了一些改变。团队越来越专注和高效地考虑如何给州长德桑蒂斯最好的机会向提前提名的州和全国介绍自己。
德桑蒂斯的竞选支出是埃伯哈特更关心的问题，但他说，他们正在努力限制超支。在过去的一个月里，德桑蒂斯解雇了超过三分之一的员工，以解决支出问题。
“没有完美的公式，但德桑蒂斯正在努力找到正确的方法，”埃伯哈特说。“我仍然支持他，仍然认为他会赢。”
击败特朗普
哈尔·兰伯特(Hal Lambert)是共和党的大捐赠者，也是投资管理公司Point Bridge Capital的首席执行官，他曾是特朗普的支持者，现在支持德桑蒂斯竞选总统。兰伯特反驳了“捐助者正在远离(州长)的说法。”
“许多捐赠者关注政治...但他们就像普通公众一样容易受到这些民意调查的影响，一项又一项民意调查显示，德桑蒂斯并没有在特朗普面前取得进展，”兰伯特说。
2017年1月18日，哈尔·兰伯特在华盛顿特区国家建筑博物馆的胜利招待会上。
WWD/潘世奇媒体通过盖蒂图片
兰伯特说，很难在这么早的时候相信民调，并补充说，不管民调怎么说，他都认为德桑蒂斯是击败特朗普的最佳候选人。
兰伯特说:“他是唯一一个能在初选中击败特朗普的候选人，如果特朗普被提名，我们将会以压倒性优势输掉大选。”
根据FiveThirtyEight的全国民调平均值，尽管特朗普在共和党初选中继续保持强劲领先，但德桑蒂斯排名第二，以52.7%比14%落后于总统。
零售政治
自从开始竞选活动以来，德桑蒂斯受到的另一个批评是不能做零售政治——在农村城镇的私人活动。但对一些捐赠者来说，这并不重要。
一位要求匿名自由发言的佛罗里达州捐助者告诉美国广播公司新闻，如果州长在零售政治方面没有更好的表现，这对他来说并不重要，他说德桑蒂斯的记录说明了一切。
“即使他(在零售政治方面)没有进步，也不应该取消(他的)资格。我的意思是，我希望我的总统是愉快的，不要误解我。但最重要的是，我想要的总统是罗恩在COVID期间展示的东西，我不相信这些是经过计算的。我相信这只是领导力。”
另一位与德桑蒂斯结盟的超级政治行动委员会(super PAC)的高美元捐助者永不退缩(Never Back Down)也在匿名的情况下接受了美国广播公司(ABC)的采访，他告诉记者，他在寻找他认为能够为经济带来贡献的最佳人选，对他来说，这个人就是德桑蒂斯。
“我认为这是一个受过良好教育的人……他在佛罗里达做得非常好。他可以为这个国家做得非常好，我认为也可以为这个世界做得非常好，”这位自称为“政治不可知论者”的捐赠者说“我认为他的意志很坚强。我认为在经济上，他会帮助这个国家。”
虽然这位匿名捐赠者支持德桑蒂斯在佛罗里达州的领导地位，但他在任期内的许多决定都受到了批评，包括该州的新决定有争议的教育方针关于黑人历史保险危机在国家和禁止讲授性取向和性别认同在一些K-12教室里。
当被要求发表评论时，德桑蒂斯的竞选沟通主任安德鲁·罗密欧感谢了支持这场运动的捐助者。
“我们的竞选活动感谢成千上万的基层支持者和主要捐助者，他们使我们有可能在早期提名州建立一个无与伦比的组织，有能力进行长期竞争，”罗密欧说。
Donors still sticking with DeSantis despite campaign struggles
Florida Gov.Ron DeSantis'presidential campaign has gone through several internal and external challenges, but many of his donors say they are standing beside the "only candidate who can beat [former President Donald] Trump."
Over the past month, DeSantis' campaign has dealt with many struggles: a recent campaign manager change, cuts tomore than one-third of the campaign staff, financial troubles and dips inthe polls.
On top of that, DeSantis' donor base is facing tumult. His biggest individual donor, hotel entrepreneur Robert Bigelow,told Reutersthat he would not donate any more money unless the Florida governor attracts new major donors and adopts a more moderate approach. GOP billionaire Thomas Peterffypaused his financial backingof the governor in April due to his stances on social issues.
But despite the challenges, some of the governor's most ardent donors are continuing to supporting him, saying he is still the best person for the presidency. ABC News spoke with many prominent donors to learn why they are sticking with DeSantis.
Polls
Greg Cook, founder of doTerra, a marketing company that sells essential oils, told ABC News in an interview that he isn't "the least bit concerned" about how DeSantis is polling nationally and in the early nominated states.
"It is early and Gov. DeSantis is proving to be the only conservative alternative to former President Donald Trump," Cook said. "Republican voters will quickly understand like I have, that Gov. DeSantis can accomplish far more with two full remaining terms."
Cook has supported the governor for a while, donating to his 2022 reelection campaign as Florida governor and most recentlydonating $6,600 to his presidential campaignand $50,000 to the DeSantis-aligned super PAC, Never Back Down.
Dan Eberhart, a DeSantis donor and CEO of Canary -- a Denver, Colorado-based drilling-services company, has donated nearly $10,000 to the campaign, and shares the same sentiments as Cook: that he believes DeSantis is the best candidate to take on Trump.
"The national polls don't matter at this point," Eberhart said. "DeSantis is the only candidate who can beat Trump. No one else is close in the polling."
Cash flow
Cook said he isn't concerned about the DeSantis campaign's spending -- specifically that the campaign burned through nearly $8 million in the first six weeks of his campaign, according to financial filings.
"Every candidacy is a start-up venture. Now is the time to make adjustments where necessary. The campaign team owned up to strategically trying a number of different approaches and have made some changes based on the data. The team is becoming more focused and efficient on what will give Gov. DeSantis the best opportunity to introduce himself to the early nominating states and the nation."
DeSantis' campaign spending was more of a concern for Eberhart, but he said they are working to limit overspending. In the past month, DeSantis let go more than one-third of his staff to address spending concerns.
"There's no perfect formula, but DeSantis is working to get it right," Eberhart said. "I'm still supporting and still think he wins."
Beating Trump
Hal Lambert, a GOP megadonor and CEO of investment-management firm Point Bridge Capital, is a former Trump backer who is now supporting DeSantis for president. Lambert pushed back against "the narrative that the donors are pulling away from the [governor]."
"Many donors, they follow politics ... but they're susceptible just like the general public to watching these polls and you have poll after poll after poll now coming out showing DeSantis isn't gaining ground against Trump," Lambert said.
It's tough to trust the polls this early, Lambert said, adding that no matter what the polls say, he thinks DeSantis is the best candidate to defeat Trump.
"He is the only candidate that can beat Trump in the primary and if Trump is the nominee, we will lose the general election in a landslide," Lambert said.
Although Trump continues his strong lead in the GOP primary, DeSantis is second, trailing the president 52.7% to 14%, according to FiveThirtyEight's national polling average.
Retail politics
Another criticism DeSantis has received since hitting the campaign trail is not being able to do retail politics -- intimate events in rural towns. But for some donors, that is not crucial.
A Florida-based donor, who requested anonymity to speak freely, told ABC News that it's not important to him if the governor does not get better at retail politics, saying that DeSantis' record speaks for itself.
"Even if he doesn't [improve at retail politics], that shouldn't disqualify [him]. I mean, I want my president to be pleasant, don't get me wrong. But mostly, what I want in the president are the things that Ron displayed during COVID and I don't believe any of that was calculated. I believe it was just leadership."
Another high-dollar donor to the DeSantis-aligned super PAC, Never Back Down, who also spoke on the condition of anonymity, told ABC News that he looks for the best person he believes can deliver on the economy, and for him that is DeSantis.
"I think this is a very well-educated man… He's does an exceptionally good job with Florida. He can do an exceptionally good job for the country and I think for the world," said the donor, who identified himself as "politically agnostic." "I think his will is strong. I think economically, he'll help the country."
While that anonymous donor supported DeSantis' leadership in Florida, he has drawn criticism for many decisions under his tenure including the state's newcontroversial educational guidelinesconcerning Black history, theinsurance crisisin the state anda ban on teaching about sexual orientation and gender identityin some K-12 classrooms.
When asked for a comment, DeSantis' campaign communication director, Andrew Romeo, thanked donors who have backed the campaign.
"Our campaign is grateful for the tens of thousands of grassroots supporters -- and major donors -- who have made it possible for us to build an unmatched organization in the early nominating states with the ability to compete for the long haul," Romeo said.
