Drew Wilson
House District 73 Republican Rep. Greg Steube has jumped out to a sizable fundraising lead in the race to take over for Venice Republican Sen. Nancy Detert in Senate District 28.
Contributions to the Steube campaign came in at about $46,000 last month, putting the candidate at $171,778 cash on-hand through the end of October. His competitors in the race, former Rep. Doug Holder and former Sarasota County Commissioner Nora Patterson, both Republicans, posted $2,500 and $14,461 in contributions respectively.
The October performance builds on Steube’s cash on-hand edge over Holder, who entered the race in the beginning of 2013. Though nearly three years of fundraising, Holder sits with about $100,000 in his campaign account. Patterson, who filed at the tail end of August, has built up about $78,000 in on-hand money, though $40,000 of that total came in through loans.
Holder and Patterson should have ample opportunity to catch up. As a sitting legislator, Steube will have to pause his fundraising efforts during session, which begins just after the New Year. After Sine Die, though, expect the race to turn into a full-on sprint toward the GOP primary.
Detert announced over the summer that she would leave her Senate seat after the 2016 session in order to run for the Sarasota County Commission, a full two years before she was due to term out. Even before Detert made it official, rumors that she would step down shook up the playing field for a couple of House races.
Steube made it known he would run in a special election early on, and his HD 73 seat should easily transition to Republican Joe Gruters, who has already raised more than $100,000 for his campaign since filing in June.
District 72 Republican Rep. Ray Pilon also considered running for the seat, though he opted to instead run for his final term in the House.
