As Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis begins his presidential bid, officials in his administration have solicited donations from lobbyists and the endorsement of state lawmakers, blurring the line between his taxpayer-funded office and his political campaign.

The scope of the governor’s office, which would normally fall to Mr. DeSantis’ campaign staff, was described by two people who said they were approached by administration officials and insisted on anonymity. In at least one case, a member of Mr. DeSantis’s administration texted a lobbyist a link to his presidential fundraising platform.

nbc news first reported applications to lobbyists.

The people who were contacted discussed the conversations only on condition of anonymity, fearing retaliation from the governor’s office, and insisted that government officials not be named to avoid revealing their own identities.

Representatives for Mr. DeSantis’s office and campaign did not respond to requests for comment.

Mr. DeSantis has yet to sign the Florida contract $117 billion budgetover which he retains a line veto, meaning he can, with a stroke of the pen, kill spending bills sought by lobbyists and lawmakers in the capital Tallahassee, where he has exerted a firm grip on the Republican-controlled Legislature.

The outreach to lobbyists gave the impression that the governor’s office would track the donations, according to two people familiar with the matter.

In addition to efforts to secure lobbyist support, the main super PAC backing Mr. DeSantis’ candidacy announced last week that 99 of Florida’s 113 Republican state legislators had endorsed Mr. DeSantis for president. Several lawmakers said privately they feared he could veto his bills or spending if they didn’t support him. Two said they had been contacted by members of the governor’s administration about sponsorships.

As governor, DeSantis has sought to expand the power of his office and has relied on the specter of political retribution, forcing lawmakers to do his bidding or face major challenges and targeting corporations like Disney that he has clashed with.

The unusual outreach to lobbyists and lawmakers highlights the careful line Mr. DeSantis and his allies must walk as he seeks the nation’s top job while governing its third-largest state.

Under Florida law, state employees can generally participate in political campaigns if they do so on their own time, with their personal devices, and without reference to their official duties or authority, among other factors.

Ethics experts said the accounts of DeSantis administration officials who helped his campaign deserved greater scrutiny, but members of the Florida Ethics Commission, which investigates allegations of ethics violations by employees of the government, are appointed by Mr. DeSantis and his allies in the Legislature. .

“The conduct raises very serious and substantial questions,” said Anthony V. Alfieri, founding director of the Center for Ethics and Public Service at the University of Miami School of Law.

Juan-Carlos Planas, a Florida election lawyer, said the governor’s executive staff and political team must maintain clear boundaries.

“The government is not supposed to be overtly political,” Planas said. “People have to be able to deal with the government knowing that the campaign is a separate entity. When you start to blur the line, it becomes autocratic.”

Mr. DeSantis has made urgent efforts to raise money for his campaign against former President Donald J. Trump, who has an army of small donors. On Thursday, DeSantis’ campaign said he had raised a record $8.2 million on the first official day of his run for the White House. The remarkable dollar amount helped silence criticism of his flawed campaign ad on Twitter the day before.

At least some of the loot came from Florida lobbyists. Many of the lobbyists and their clients have projects within the state budget that DeSantis could choose to veto, giving them a clear incentive to contribute when called upon. Several state lobbyists attended a day-long fundraising session with Mr. DeSantis at the Four Seasons hotel in Miami on Thursday.

With the help of the event, which was called Ron-O-Rama, DeSantis raised about twice as much money as Trump in the 24 hours after his criminal indictment this year. The sum broke the previous one-day record of $6.3 million set by Joseph R. Biden Jr. in 2019.

DeSantis is also under pressure to wrest key Republican endorsements from Trump, who won an early victory last month by securing the support of a majority of Florida Republicans in Congress.

maggie haberman and patricia mazzei contributed reporting.