Jim Rosica
Florida Grown, the fundraising committee that likely will fuel Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam‘s 2018 bid for governor, posted $144,925 in contributions for January, campaign finance records show.
The latest haul brings total money raised to more than $4.1 million, with total expenditures now at about $891,000, for a cash-on-hand balance of about $3.2 million.
Disney, Florida Phosphate and U.S. Sugar Corp. tied for top contributor, chipping in $25,000 each.
Other big contributors include banker Syd Ghermezian of Woodhaven, New York, with $15,000. He’s chairman and CEO of New York’s Community Federal Savings Bank.
Tampa-based Lykes Brothers, one of the largest private landowners in the United States, gave $10,000. And Centene Corp., a Fortune 500 health care concern, also contributed $10,000.
Wawa, the Pennsylvania-based convenience store chain that is expanding in Florida, gave $5,000 and a Karen Reed of Lakeland donated $5.
January’s largest expenditure was nearly $57,000 in fees and reimbursements to Silloh Consulting, the company held by Justin Hollis, who chairs Florida Grown.
Generally, political committees aren’t limited in how much they can accept, unlike candidates’ individual campaign accounts.
