Drew Wilson
The political committees for Republican Senate presidential hopefuls Jack Latvala and Joe Negron took something of a summer vacation in July, especially so in Latvala’s case as the Pinellas state senator took time to get married.
Negron’s PAC, Treasure Coast Alliance, brought in $55,000 for the month, compared with $23,858 for Latvala’s Florida Leadership Committee. The numbers are a far cry from Negron’s $623,550 showing in May or Latvala’s $487,625 haul in February, though both committees still have more than $1 million on hand for the 2016 cycle.
Negron’s contributions came from just eight donors with the Fontainebleau Resort in Miami Beach writing the committee a $25,000 check. The Building a Better Florida political committee gave $15,000 and Arizona-based red-light camera company American Traffic Solutions chipped in $10,000. Latvala’s committee took in $10,000 from AT&T and $5,000 from the FRF Political Committee. The Dade County Firefighters Local 1403 PAC and Virginia-based tobacco company Swedish Match each wrote $2,500 checks. The rest of the July money came from a handful of small donors.
FLC spent more money than it took in for the month, with $36,662 heading out the door. The committee cut a $10,000 check to Florida Speaks, a committee associated with South Pasadena Rep. and Latvala acolyte Kathleen Peters. The campaign accounts for Susan Harrelle, David Kerner and Randall Fine got $1,000 checks from FLC, with most of the remaining money going to payroll and a few consulting contracts.
Treasure Coast Alliance spent $24,838, with $7,225 heading to Tallahassee firm Ross Consulting and $2,500 to Bascom Communications. The committee also spent $5,000 on a sponsorship with the All-Star Classic in Hollywood, with another $5,000 heading to the Florida Republican Senatorial Campaign Committee and a $2,500 check to the St. Lucie Lipstick Republican Club, a group dedicated to promoting women in politics and business.
Negron’s committee has raised a little more than $3 million to date, and has about $1.2 million cash on hand. FLC has raised more money overall, with about $3.5 million in contributions, though the committee trails Treasure Coast Alliance in cash reserves with just under $1.1 million on hand heading into August.
