Political leanings: Republican/Pro-Ron DeSantis
2022 total spending: N/A
Fight Right Inc. is the newest political action committee trying to help Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis win the Republican nomination for president. The super PAC filed with the Federal Election Commission in November, and a nonprofit by the same name registered in Florida around the same time.
The super PAC reportedly came into existence, at least in part, because of turmoil within another pro-DeSantis group, Never Back Down Inc., which for months had been the main super PAC supporting the governor’s presidential bid. Allies of DeSantis transferred about $82.5 million from Empower Parents PAC, his former state political committee, to Never Back Down in May.
Super PACs, formally known as independent expenditure-only committees, are allowed to raise unlimited sums of money for the purpose of making communications that advocate electing, or not electing, a political candidate — so long as that spending is not directly coordinated with a candidate, campaign or political party. In addition, super PACs must periodically disclose their donors to the FEC.
Fight Right will focus on advertising, while Never Back Down pivots to field operations and organizing after having spent at least $22 million on ads, according to the media-tracking service AdImpact. Never Back Down reportedly transferred $1 million to Fight Right.
In a memo to potential donors, as reported by multiple outlets, DeSantis campaign manager James Uthmeier wrote that Fight Right’s “emergence provides welcomed air support,” adding that its “mission could not have come at a better time.”
On its website, the super PAC says, “Fight Right exists for one purpose: to shed light on the failed records and leadership of Governor DeSantis’s opponents.” So far, the only candidate it has targeted with ads is Nikki Haley, the former South Carolina governor and U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.
It has reported more than $7.6 million in media placements against Haley in Iowa, which holds its Republican caucus on Jan. 15, and where DeSantis has spent much of his time campaigning. Some of the ads have linked Haley to Hillary Clinton, the former Democratic presidential nominee, who is unpopular with Republicans.
More information about Fight Right’s finances, including how much it has raised and who its donors are, is not currently available on the FEC website.
The super PAC is being led by Blake Harris, a former senior adviser to the presidential campaign of Republican Sen. Tim Scott, who dropped out of the race in mid-November.
FactChecking Fight Right Inc.:
“DeSantis-Linked Super PAC Uses Out-of-Context Quotes to Label Hillary Clinton As Haley’s ‘Role Model,’” Nov. 29