With $21 million to spend, South Carolina senator Tim Scott (R) has built up the biggest war chest of any 2024 Republican candidate after Donald Trump.

Most of the funding was transferred from the Senate campaign for Scott - a favorite of the Republican party who has been attracting interest from donors as Ron DeSantis stumbles.

Despite his large cash fund, Scott has actually spent more than the $6 million he raised since launching his candidacy in May.

Tim Scott's war chest

Trump leads the pack with $22 million in his campaign coffers. His joint fundraising committee raised a total of $35 million, with his campaign raising about $17 million of that amount.

DeSantis raised $20 million last quarter, the largest single haul of any candidate - and significantly more than everyone else except Trump. DeSantis' Super PAC, Never Back Down, has also raised a huge sum of $130 million since launching in March, although most of that money was transferred from DeSantis' gubernatorial campaign.

But DeSantis' spending has raised concerns after he burned nearly $8 million last quarter, leaving him with $12 million on hand - a little over half of what Trump and Scott each have available.

DeSantis has been reliant, so far, on funding from wealthy supporters - many of whom have been tapped out after the first six weeks of DeSantis' campaign.

Major donors eager to move on from Trump have begun considering alternatives to DeSantis - such as Scott - as the Florida governor struggles to close a stubborn polling gap.

Ready to debate

It's not likely anti-Trump donors will dwell long on former vice president Mike Pence, after he posted an anemic haul of little over $1 million. But Pence could have done worse, with former Arkansas governor Asa Hutchinson raising under $1 million.

Not unlike Scott, Pence is running on a traditional Republican brand of Reaganite optimism - except Pence carries the stench of January 6th, when, in the eyes of many Republicans, he legitimized a stolen election.

Scott has the 40,000 unique donors needed to qualify for the debates, which kick off next month.

“As he prepares to take the debate stage, it is clear he not only is the best messenger and most consistent conservative in the race, but also has the resources to win,” Scott's campaign said.

Multimillionaire Vivek Ramaswamy, a Trump defender who has attracted lots of buzz lately, raised over $7 million, mostly of his own money.