The former president Donald Trump has received more endorsements than all the other current candidates for the presidency combined.
The first 24 hours after Florida GOP Gov. Two members of Ron DeSantis’ cabinet have voiced their support for his campaign — Florida Attorney general Ashley Moody, and Lt. Governor Jeanette Nunez. Jeanette Nunez. Daniel Webster of the Florida congressional delegation said on Thursday that he would be supporting Trump .
So far, only one Florida congressman has been elected to Congress — Rep. Laurel Lee — who was DeSantis’ secretary of state during his administration — has backed him.
DeSantis is also a former Congressman but he doesn’t enjoy the support of his state’s House delegation. Twelve of Florida’s 20 House Republicans have backed Trump. Marco Rubio, the state’s Republican senator, and Rick Scott have not endorsed either candidate in the primary.
According to an analysis by the political unit of NBC News, Trump has received the support of 51 House members. This is more than 20% of the GOP conference. Trump received 17 endorsements in the first two campaign days from members of Congress, as well as Alabama Senator Tommy Tuberville and Texas attorney general Ken Paxton.
Tuberville, one of 10 GOP Senators, has endorsed Trump for president. Trump has also received the support of two governors, Jim Justice from West Virginia and Henry McMaster from South Carolina.
DeSantis has the support of five members in Congress. DeSantis was also backed by GOP Reps. Chip Roy from Texas, Thomas Massie from Kentucky, and Bob Good from Virginia before he entered the race. Rich McCormick, a Georgia GOP representative, endorsed DeSantis a few hours before his official campaign launch on Tuesday.
This week, Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) also announced his presidential bid with the support of two of his Republican Senate coworkers, both from South Dakota: John Thune who is also in GOP leadership and Mike Rounds.
In February, former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley began her presidential campaign with the endorsement of Rep. Ralph Norman. She hasn’t received any additional endorsements since then.
Mike Pence, the former vice president of the United States, has been considering a presidential run. Greg Pence , Indiana GOP Rep., has previously stated that he will support Pence should he run.
Ben Kamisar and Alexandra Marquez contributed.
