/s3.amazonaws.com/arc-wordpress-client-uploads/tbt/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/08162516/20180129_zaf_p77_010.jpg "U.S. Rep. Ron DeSantis, R-Palm Coast, greets supporters in Boca Raton after formally kicking off his campaign for Florida governor. (© The Palm Beach Post via ZUMA Wire)")
One of the political operations supported by conservative billionaire Charles Koch endorsed Ron DeSantis on Tuesday, signaling more heavyweight out-of-state support for the Florida Congressman.
The Freedom Partners Action Fund, a Washington-based super PAC, announced the endorsement in a press release which cited DeSantis's Congressional record and his military service as a Navy JAG officer.
Read more: Defending Trump, threatening shutdowns: What 5 years in Congress tell us about Ron DeSantis.
The PAC has more than $12 million on hand, according to Federal Election Commission data, and it pledged to boost DeSantis through targeted mailers and digital ads in Florida.
DeSantis has enjoyed a great deal of out-of-state financial support from other big GOP donors like Illinois shipping magnate Richard Uihlein, as well as from small donations from voters across the country who received his mailers or saw him on Fox News.
These analyses of DeSantis's campaign finances have spurred criticism from his Republican opponent, Commissioner of Agriculture Adam Putnam, who has tried to characterize DeSantis as being out-of-touch with Florida. Putnam has for years developed relationships with Florida's state elected leaders and has received big checks from nearly all Florida's biggest political players, such as U.S. Sugar and Disney.
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