Despite begging Ron DeSantis to “stop blowing money on f*cking memes,” donors still managed to give millions to a super PAC aiding the Florida governor’s presidential campaign.

Last night, the Ron DeSantis-affiliated political action committee, Never Back Down, posted its finances for the first time, showing a small circle of mega-donors hailing mostly from Florida, with quite a few calling the Tampa Bay region home.

Filings show that from February through June, the PAC has collected $48 million from 171 donors, and approximately $1.5 million of that total came from 18 donors in the Tampa Bay area.

The largest single donation from the Tampa Bay area came from local billionaire developer Edward DeBartolo Jr, who contributed $250,000 to the group aiding DeSantis’ 2024 presidential run, according to Federal Election Commission filings.

DeBartolo, the former San Francisco 49ers owner who famously pleaded guilty in a 1998 corruption case but was later pardoned by former president Donald Trump, is the father-in-law to Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister.

On a side note, FEC reports show that Chronister has also donated to DeSantis, including a $6,600 donation to DeSantis’ presidential campaign last month.

Other notable local contributions to the Never Back Down PAC include a $100,000 donation from South Tampa plastic surgeon Tony Watt.

Local healthcare company Hillcour, which was among the local businesses to receive the most PPP loans back in 2020, also donated $100,000, and the company’s CEO, Damien Lamendola, gave another $25,000.

Metro Development Group CEO John Ryan gave two $50,000 donations to the PAC, while Morgan Auto Group Chairman Larry C. Morgan donated $50,000.

The DeSantis campaign has been imploding recently, after failing to climb in the polls despite a massive staff shake up. The campaign has also struggled to recover from multiple missteps, including the launch of a weirdly homo-erotic attack ad criticizing Trump for being too LGBTQ-friendly and sharing a separate video that co-opted a Nazi symbol.

DeSantis has since defended the videos. “These things get shared, or whatever — and look, I’m responsible for it. Don’t get me wrong,” said DeSantis to Fox News host Bret Baier on Monday. “But the idea that I was sitting there, like — oh, share this video? No. It’s a rapid response thing.”

Subscribe to Creative Loafing newsletters.