Ryan Ray
On his way re-election to his fourth term as Orlando Mayor, Buddy Dyer raised plenty of campaign cash from local supporters through his Moving Orlando Forward PAC.
But about $215,000 of that money made a detour in Tallahassee, according to recently filed campaign finance reports.
The Moving Orlando Forward committee made five major contributions to the Florida Democratic Party, amounting to some of the most significant donations the state party took in last quarter.
The political committee made contributions in the amount of $35,000, $50,000, $50,000, $40,000 and $40,000 respectively, all during the month of October.
Dyer was re-elected Nov. 3, defeating Republican veteran and businessman Paul Paulson handily, 63 to 33.
Gov. Rick Scott gave the mayor and former state senator a shout-out in his State of the State address Tuesday in Tallahassee. Dyer was one of three Democratic big-city mayors to be recognized by the governor as he made his pitch for $250 million in dedicated funding for Enterprise Florida, the state’s public-private business development entity, which has been something of a political vehicle for Scott.
The $215,000 pass-through amounted to more than a 10th of the party’s $1.8 million quarterly fundraising total. The Republican Party of Florida raised about $2.3 million, a figure closer to parity than usual in recent years.
Donations from Tallahassee regulars such as Mosaic Fertilizer and Walt Disney World Parks & Resorts weighed heavy on the ledgers of both state parties.
The practice of candidates passing money through a party – i.e. contributing money that’s later used to benefit the candidate’s campaign – is a common practice in Florida,
