Peter Schorsch
Vero Beach Republican Rep. Debbie Mayfield loaned another $100,000 to her Senate campaign at the end of July to increase her lead over Melbourne Republican Rep. Ritch Workman in the Senate District 17 primary.
Mayfield’s loan was paired with $13,250 in contributions and about $15,000 in expenditures, leaving her campaign account with about $170,000 in the bank on July 29. As of the close of the one-week reporting period, Mayfield’s campaign totals showed $500,000 in loans, $140,635 in contributions and nearly $470,000 in expenditures.
The end-of-month contributions mostly came from donors in the newly redrawn district, which includes Brevard and Indian River counties.
Workman raised just $3,550 for the week and spent more than $66,000, leaving him with just under $100,000 in his campaign account on July 29. The Space Coast lawmaker has raised $404,630 to date and spent $305,070 of that money.
Among the expenditures was a $40,720 media buy through Tallahassee-based Southern Campaign Resources and $23,500 in postage expenses paid to the USPS.
A St. Pete Polls survey from the end of July showed Mayfield with a 43-25 edge over Workman among likely Republican primary voters, with third Republican candidate, Mike Thomas, polling at 10 percent.
Thomas raised $150 during the reporting period and has under $2,000 on hand as of July 29.
The trio of Republicans also face Democrat Amy Tidd and write-in candidate Ronald Thomas, though neither candidate has shown much fundraising muscle since entering the race right before the June 24 candidate filing deadline.
