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The G.O.P. Megadonors Come to Jesus

Fear is growing within the Republican billionaire class that the party’s moneymen have lost any ability to elevate an alternative to Trump. Why would things be different for Nikki Haley?

Republican presidential candidate former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley stands on stage during a break in the NBC News Republican Presidential Primary Debate on November 8, 2023, in Miami, Florida.
If Ron DeSantis likely peaked too early, Nikki Haley appears to be catching genuine, if relatively modest, momentum at just the right time. Photo: Joe Raedle/Getty Images
Theodore Schleifer
November 29, 2023

When Ron DeSantis drove up from Chicago to Milwaukee two weeks ago for a fundraiser, he was sure to make a pit stop in the small town of Pleasant Prairie, Wisconsin. There, inside the corporate headquarters of their company, Uline, waited Dick and Liz Uihlein, the it-couple of hard-right conservative politics, and two of his biggest donors. The pair have been steadfast DeSantis supporters, and the get-together was organized by his super PAC, Never Back Down. The ask on the table, implicitly at least: Would the Uihleins be interested in making another contribution?