DeSantis security, travel cost nearly $10 million last year

The state of Florida spent nearly $10 million on security and transportation for Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) in the last year, according to state documents released this week. 

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) spent $9.4 million on protecting DeSantis and his family between July 2022 and the end of June 2023, a $3 million increase in funds spent to protect the governor and his family from the previous fiscal year.

The increased costs come as DeSantis makes a White House bid, leading to an increase in travel on a campaign trail. DeSantis also went on national campaign trips ahead of the 2022 midterms to support other Republican candidates. 

FDLE officials previously told NBC News that security increases were not due to increased travel and a presidential campaign and that they were necessary compensations to make up for prior shortcomings.

“Unfortunately, the team Commissioner Glass put together during his transition found that after nearly a decade FDLE had failed to request necessary additional resources in Protective Operations while the threats nationwide have increased leaving the section critically underfunded and, in many cases, understaffed,” FDLE spokeswoman Gretl Plessinger said in June.

Of that $9.4 million, about $6.3 million went toward security salaries while the remaining $3.1 million paid for transportation, the report states. Nearly the entirety of that fund was spent on DeSantis himself, with a small portion reserved for his wife, Casey, children and additional home security.

The FDLE spent more than $117,000 on security for DeSantis’s inauguration in January, the report found, the largest individual expense listed.

The agency is also responsible for providing protection for out-of-state dignitaries who visit Florida on personal and official business, if requested by the governor’s office. The list of protected visitors includes dozens of governors from around the country, their families and some foreign officials.