Peter Schorsch
Democrat Augie Ribeiro has pumped another $100,000 of his own money into his campaign against three current and former lawmakers in the newly redrawn Senate District 19.
The St. Petersburg attorney has now loaned or contributed more than $500,000 to his campaign in the district, which covers parts of Hillsborough and Pinellas counties.
Outside of self-funding, Ribeiro brought in just over $6,000 in contributions between Aug. 6 and Aug. 12, while spending about $150,000 for an on-hand total of $33,761 at the end of the reporting period.
Most of the expenditures went toward a direct mail campaign with Palm Beach Gardens-based National Campaign Research Group, which picked up $133,338 for the week. Redondo Beach, California-based Fortune Media also took in $15,519 for an ad placement.
Ribeiro far out-raised his three opponents in the Democratic Primary, though he trails Reps. Ed Narain and Daryl Rouson in cash-on-hand.
Narain raised $12,635 for the week through checks from more than a dozen Florida political committees, and spent $8,130, mainly on a media buy from Fletcher Rowley, leaving him with just over $51,000 in the bank.
Rouson raised just shy of $19,000, including $1,000 checks from Amazon and Metlife, while spending $10,695, mostly on printing through Tampa-based Sonic Print. The St. Petersburg Democrat also had about $51,000 in the bank on Aug. 12.
The fourth Democrat in the race, former Rep. Betty Reed, raised just $500 and spent $2,007 for an on-hand total of $19,426.
The new SD 19 is a minority access district with an electorate that is 33 percent black and 16 percent Hispanic. More than 53 percent of the electorate are registered Democrats, compared to just 23 percent who are registered Republicans.
John “Mr. Manners” Houman, the lone GOP candidate in the race, hasn’t raised any money since he kicked off his campaign with a $3,000 loan in mid-May.
