Dana Young raises more than $53K in April in bid for SD 18 seat

Rep. Dana Young speaks at the start of session Tuesday, Jan. 12, 2016, in the Florida House of Representatives in Tallahassee, Fla. The Florida Legislature convened today for its annual 60-day session. (Phil Sears/For SaintPetersBlog)

Tampa Republican Dana Young raised more $53,350 in April, in her first full month of fundraising since declaring for the new Senate District 18 seat in January.

Because lawmakers can’t fundraise while in session, Young only seriously began fundraising last month.(There was one contribution in March.)

She was able to move the war chest over from her House campaign account, however, including a $110,000 haul back in December. Young has represented District 60 in Hillsborough County since 2010, and announced her candidacy for the state Senate at the beginning of the year.

Many of her contributions in April came from political action committees, construction companies and the agricultural industry.

Young’s Democratic opponent is Bob Buesing, a Tampa attorney who has never run for office before. He announced his candidacy on Monday.

Senate District 18 includes Avila, Carrollwood, Davis Islands, Lutz, MacDill Air Force Base, Odessa, South Tampa and Westchase.