DeSantis campaign rakes in more than $1 million after first Republican debate

The presidential campaign of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis raised more than $1 million in the 24 hours after the first Republican primary debate, The Post has confirmed.

The 2024 presidential hopeful reported the fundraising surge as one of eight GOP candidates hoping to build on their performances Wednesday night in Milwaukee and challenge frontrunner and former President Donald Trump.

ABC News first reported on the DeSantis campaign’s post-debate intake.

“Ron DeSantis showed Wednesday night that he is a proven leader who will deliver results as president, and we are thrilled with the flood of support we have received since his debate victory,” campaign manager James Uthmeier said.

“We look forward to building on this momentum in the weeks and months ahead as the Governor continues to outwork everyone in this race as he lays out his vision to reverse our nation’s decline and revive the American Dream.”

DeSantis, 44, returned to Iowa on Thursday to hold a rally at the iconic “Field of Dreams” in Dyersville, as he plans to visit all 99 counties in the Hawkeye State before the first-in-the-nation caucuses on Jan. 15.

Meanwhile, the campaign of surging Republican candidate and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, 38, told The Post it had raised $460,000 on debate night and another $600,000 on Thursday — its biggest one-day haul yet.

The campaigns of former Vice President Mike Pence, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC), former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, and North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum did not immediately respond to a request for fundraising numbers.

Ramaswamy emerged as the best-performing candidate at the debate, with 23% of self-identified GOP voters saying he won the event, according to a Leger poll of 1,800 people commissioned exclusively for The Post.

DeSantis came in second with 21% of Republican voters claiming he was the victor. Just 11% said the same of Pence; 7% of Haley; 6% of Scott; 4% of Christie; 4% of Hutchinson; and 1% of Burgum.

Trump, 77, did not show up at the Fiserv Forum, despite leading the nominating contest with 55.4% support, according to the RealClearPolitics national polling average.

He is followed in the polling average by DeSantis (14.3%), Ramaswamy (7.2%), Pence (4%), Haley (3.2%), Scott (3.1%), Christie (3%), Hutchinson (0.8%) and Burgum (0.6%).

The former president opted out of the Republican debate and instead sat for a pre-recorded interview with former Fox News host Tucker Carlson on X, formerly known as Twitter, that ran at the same time as the event.

On Thursday, Trump surrendered to authorities in Atlanta after being charged by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis over his efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election in Georgia.

He became the first president to pose for a mug shot after being booked and was released on a $200,000 bond.

The grand jury indictment is the fourth handed down this year against the 45th president, following federal charges for alleged attempts to reverse his defeat to Joe Biden and improperly retaining national security documents at Mar-a-Lago.

Trump was also indicted in Manhattan for allegedly falsifying business records in an attempt to hide “hush money” payments to porn star Stormy Daniels before the 2016 election.