Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis sold out a Republican dinner in New Hampshire, pulling in more than a quarter of a million dollars and breaking the record for the state party’s largest fundraiser.
The Republican governor and likely 2024 presidential candidate headlined the Amos Tuck Dinner in Manchester on Friday evening, packing the Double Tree Hilton to the rafters and raking in more than $250,000 for the Granite State GOP.
Chris Ager, the chairman of the New Hampshire Republican Party, told the New Hampshire Journal that DeSantis’ speech was “record breaking.”
“Largest fundraiser in the history of the NHGOP, raising more than a quarter of a million dollars. Ticket sales were halted earlier this week after we exceeded planned capacity,” Ager said.
He said the party had hoped to sell 500 tickets to the event at $150 a pop, but quickly exceeded that goal.
The 100 VIP tickets that went for $500 each also sold out, Ager said.
“From the beginning, we had planned for 500,” Ager told the Washington Examiner before the Friday fundraiser. “We squeezed into two more tables. … It’s been at least 10 years since we’ve had a dinner event that big.”
DeSantis, who likely poses the biggest threat to former President Donald Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign, spoke for an hour at the dinner and worked the crowd beforehand.
His speech sparked a number of standing ovations, as well as an outburst from two protesters who rushed the stage.
“Jews against DeSantis! Jews against DeSantis!” the two women cried out before security removed them.
The Florida governor appeared to be unfazed at the disturbance.
“You got to have a little spice in the speech right?” he told the crowd.
“Why would you want to pay for the ticket to get in just to do that? I don’t know, but different strokes for different folks,” he quipped.
DeSantis has been crisscrossing the country in the past weeks to promote his book, “The Courage to be Free,” but the speech in New Hampshire was his initial visit to the first-in-the-nation voting state.
Trump has expanded his lead over DeSantis in polls taken since the former president was indicted by a Manhattan grand jury in connection to a $130,000 hush-money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels before the 2016 election.