The presidential campaign of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican, will make a stop in Massachusetts when he arrives Saturday in Cotuit for a fundraiser, according to an invitation to the event reviewed by the Times.
DeSantis, who trails former President Donald Trump for the Republican nomination, has had a contentious relationship with the Cape and Islands over the past year for his immigration policies.
On Friday Cape and Island District Attorney Robert Galibois announced plans to investigate the DeSantis-ordered drop-off of about 50 South American migrants at Martha's Vineyard Airport in September. The Florida Governor chose Martha's Vineyard because Massachusetts is perceived as a liberal-leaning state.
"l am aware that immigrants were tricked and fooled into boarding planes that ultimately landed in Martha's Vineyard, a part of my jurisdiction," Galibois said in a statement to the Times. "I believe this falls within my purview as District Attorney to investigate."
Galibois said it is his obligation to investigate "any potentially criminal activity" that occurs within his jurisdiction but that some of the information he seeks to review as part of his investigation falls outside his jurisdiction. He supports a similar investigation in California but said for a "full and proper investigation to occur, the Department of Justice must be involved." He offered his full cooperation in such a probe.
The private Cotuit fundraiser for DeSantis is organized by a host committee of 14 people, according to the invitation, and will begin at 12:30 p.m. Saturday. Members of the committee include former U.S. Rep. Lamar Smith, a Republican from Texas; Chris Egan, a businessman and former U.S. ambassador during the George W. Bush administration and Bain Capital co-founder Geoff Rehnert.
Tickets cost $3,300 for one person and $6,600 for a couple, according to the invitation.
Multiple employees of the DeSantis campaign were contacted by email about the fundraiser but did not respond as of Thursday. Several members of the host committee also did not immediately respond to requests for comment by phone and email.
Embattled campaign makes major shake-up
The Florida Governor has been revamping his strategy to take the presidency. Smaller-scale gatherings, like the one planned for Cotuit, will take center stage as DeSantis attempts to seem more personable, according to advisers.
Cost-cutting will also be getting top billing in the rebooted campaign, according to sources briefed on the plans. DeSantis had cut 38 positions from his campaign staff, slashing a third of the payroll. But to make up the gap with Trump, he'll also have to find new sources of income — two-thirds of the money his campaign has raised so far comes from donors that have reached their legal limit and can't donate again.
DeSantis is far behind Trump in terms of funds raised, with just over $20 million raised as of Tuesday, compared to Trump's nearly $36 million, according to Federal Election Commission statistics.
He's also got a long way to go to catch up here in Massachusetts: from February through June, DeSantis raised just $121,559 in the state, compared to Trump's $381,954. The election commission database shows that President Joe Biden, by contrast, raised $789,535 toward his re-election bid in Massachusetts in the same span.
Among those fired from the DeSantis campaign staff in recent weeks was Nate Hochman, a speechwriter who came under fire last weekend for creating a campaign video that included an image of a sonnenrad, a popular Nazi symbol.
The Cotuit event comes off trips earlier in the week to Tennessee and Iowa, among other stops. On his way to an event in Knoxville, DeSantis' car was involved in a crash. No injuries were reported.
DeSantis, Massachusetts clashes headlined by migrant flights
As Florida Governor, DeSantis has not always been chummy with legislators in Massachusetts. Recently, he signed into law a bill that would stop honoring certain driver's licenses from states that allow undocumented immigrants to obtain them. Within the same week, Massachusetts did just that, though it did not make the Florida nonrecognition list because of the wording of the bill, according to the State House News Service.
Maura Healey has also gotten in on the gubernatorial beef: she said of DeSantis on Boston Public Radio in March that he "wants to take us backward" and his education policies were "really shameful, and it certainly does a disservice to the residents of Florida, ultimately."
Migrants flown to Martha's Vineyard
But the main event, and the one closest to home for those on the Cape, came last September when DeSantis flew 50 Venezuelan migrants from Texas to Martha's Vineyard unannounced.
The Sept. 14 flights were paid with $12 million the Florida Legislature appropriated to cover the cost of transporting migrants out of Florida if they are apprehended at the border and brought to the state.
A DeSantis spokesperson said then the migrants were flown to Martha's Vineyard as part of the Governor's "promise to drop off undocumented migrants in progressive states."
Democratic State Rep. Dylan Fernandes of Falmouth, who represents Martha's Vineyard as well as Nantucket and Falmouth, said Tuesday that since then, he has worked with members of the Cape community to get those migrants settled and integrated here. He's not surprised, though, that DeSantis is now coming to fundraise for his presidential campaign.
"Ron DeSantis is a coward, and he's shameless, so it's unsurprising that he's back here with his hand out," Fernandes said. "But it's going to go to complete waste because America's better than him. And we won't elect him."
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Graham Krewinghaus reporting via the Cape Cod Times.
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