Drew Wilson
Incumbent Republican Rep. Mike Miller increased his lead over his three Democratic challengers for House District 47 last month, while neighboring HD 49 is still only sporting a single candidate.
Miller brought in $14,985 in January and only spent $826, leaving him with just over $79,000 on-hand in his re-election campaign. The 23 January contributions included 10 maximum contributions of $1,000, three of which came from companies owned by Pensacola-based Gulf Coast Health Care.
The first-term representative’s campaign account is still far ahead of his three Democratic challengers: attorney Henry Lim, TV production professional Beth Tuura and Clint Curtis, who is best known for accusing former U.S. Rep. Tom Feeney of election rigging. Curtis rang in with just $100 for the month, though, making the Democratic Primary look increasingly like a two-horse race.
Lim brought in just over $6,000 in January, including a $1,000 check from Reed Nissan, but ended up burning through $4,300 of his campaign funds, leaving him with just $13,702 on hand. Nearly $3,000 of that money went to Table Top Caterers for an event, with another $1,200 heading to campaign management fees.
Tuura, who entered the race in mid-November, has been a little more frugal with her money. In her third month in the contest, Tuura was able to raise about $5,000, including $1,000 from Lisa DeBartolo, the daughter of deceased shopping mall mogul and former San Francisco 49ers owner Eddie Bartolo Jr. After just $343 in expenses for the month, her campaign account headed into February with $19,663 on hand.
In neighboring HD 49, Democrat Carlos Smith has yet to draw a challenger. The UCF-area seat is held by Rep. Rene Plasencia, who is shifting over to HD 50. Smith has not yet filed his January report though he finished the year $63,513 on hand.
