SF Giants principal owner makes max donation to Ron DeSantis campaign
The Republican Party has consistently been able to turn to SF Giants principal owner Charles B. Johnson for financial support over the past few decades. In fact, Johnson donated nearly $3.77 million during the last election cycle to Republican candidates and Super Pacs. Johnson is indeed back at it this cycle, having made the maximum $6,600 donation to Republican presidential candidate Ron DeSantis (hat tip to SFGATE's Alex Shultz for first pointing out the filing).
Johnson has previously been a sizable financial backer of former president Donald Trump, who is running once again in 2024. DeSantis is currently considered the biggest threat to Trump's campaign in the Republican primary, but recent reports have shown a cash solvency issue in DeSantis' campaign that could force his run to fall short.
DeSantis has not only pushed a far-right rhetoric throughout his political career, he has also passed fascist policies during his tenure as Florida's governor. DeSantis has successfully taken away rights from LGBTQIA+ people and banned books that have ties to political movements he opposes. Often, the book bans have gone so far as to ban books written by or about Black and/or queer characters without any more direct political message.
He also made a $2,900 donation to West Virginia Republican member of the House Alex Mooney, who aims to challenge incumbent Democrat Joe Manchin for a senate seat last year. Mooney has been a staunch ally of former president Donald Trump and has defended the January 6th coup attempt. He also was the subject of a recent investigation by the Office of Congressional Ethics last year, which found "substantial reason to believe" Mooney violated congressional ethics by accepting an all-expenses-paid family vacation to Aruba.
The report also found that Mooney "likely" violated federal law “by providing false testimony and withholding evidence or making edits to his calendar.”
