Jim Rosica
Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn, former CFO Alex Sink, and others are throwing a fundraiser in Tampa for fellow Democrat Loranne Ausley, who’s seeking a Tallahassee-area Florida House seat.
Former state Insurance Consumer Advocate Sean Shaw, who worked for Sink, on Thursday tweeted a photo of the invite to the event, to be held next Tuesday at Big Ray’s Fish Camp.
The 52-year-old Ausley, a lawyer, seeks to retake the reliably Democratic district she held in 2000-08 now that current Rep. Michelle Rehwinkel Vasilinda is term-limited.
Other hosts at the Tampa fundraiser include the former state senator, education commissioner and USF President Betty Castor, and Hillsborough County Property Appraiser Bob Henriquez.
Ausley faces Democrats Arnitta Grice-Walker, an elementary school teacher, and Joshua Johnson in the primary. The winner there faces Republican lawyer Jim Messer in the general election.
The district includes part of Leon County “where a third of employees work in the public sector,” according to LobbyTools, and is “noticeably whiter, older and more affluent than the majority-minority District 8 to the west.”
Comparing the cash-on-hand amounts, Ausley leads with $172,000, followed by Messer with almost $76,000.
Johnson, a political unknown, has posted no campaign money, and Grice-Walker’s campaign account is $558 in debt, state records show.
