Central Florida legislative fundraising leaders stay ahead in days before primary

The final campaign finance reports before Florida’s Aug. 30 Primary Election are in and Victor Torres, Randolph Bracy, and Mike Clelland have held on to their leads in Central Florida’s Senate seats.

Clelland is facing fellow former Rep. Linda Stewart and Rick Roach in the Democratic Primary for Senate District 13, and he was able to raise another $83,775 across his campaign and committee accounts between Aug. 13 and Aug. 25, while Stewart managed about $4,700 in fundraising and Roach came in under the $1,000 mark.

The winner of the three-way primary race will face Republican Realtor Dean Asher in the general election. During the two-week reporting period, Asher tacked on another $12,200 in campaign donations and $11,000 for his committee, leaving him with a comfortable $318,000 on hand between the two accounts.

In SD 15, Rep. Torres raised another $26,000 and spent about $29,000 for an on-hand total of $28,000 heading into the Democratic Primary against Bob Healy, who raised just under $20,000 and spent $25,000 for an on-hand total of about $11,000.

To date, Torres has raised $183,000, compared to $76,000 for Healy.

The winner of that contest moves on to face Republican Peter Vivaldi, who showed $540 in contributions in his new report, leaving him with $15,758 on hand.

SD 11 has the tightest spread among the three Orange County Senate seats, though Rep. Bracy holds the lead in the four-way Democratic Primary with $72,733 on hand after bringing in $15,000 over the last two weeks.

Former Sen. Gary Siplin was the top fundraiser in the district, however, with $19,100 in contributions. His $31,472 on hand total puts him in second, followed by Chuck O’Neal with $11,000 and former Orange County Commissioner Bob Sindler with $21,263.

The winner of the SD 11 primary doesn’t face any GOP opposition and should cruise past write-in candidates Miranda Ratcliffe and Joseph Harris in November.

In the House races, incumbent Republicans David Santiago, Jason Brodeur, Scott Plakon, and Jennifer Sullivan each piled on a little more money in their safe seats, though none of the four are facing a primary challenger this cycle.

In HD 50, Rep. Rene Plasencia added another $33,500 in contributions ahead of the Republican primary against George Collins, who showed $0 in new contributions, while fellow Republican Rep. Tom Goodson crossed the $200,000 mark in HD 51, where he is set to skate past primary challenger Tim Timulty.

In HD 47, Democrat Beth Tuura threw $10,000 of her own money into her campaign, giving her some last-minute ammunition against Henry Lim, who raised $3,329, and Clint Curtis, who posted $800 in contributions.

The winner of that contest will go up against Republican Rep. Mike Miller, who crossed the $150,000 on-hand mark in his new report. Lim, who leads the trio of Democrats, had just $7,737 on hand Aug. 25.

Exiting Sen. Thad Altman posted the best report of the four Republicans running to take over for Rep. Rich Workman in HD 52.

Altman’s $31,300 haul is his best to date, but his $4,000 on-hand total still leaves him far behind primary favorite Brian Hodgers, who has a whopping $240,000 on hand after bringing in $14,200 and spending $37,584 over the past two weeks.

The other two Republicans, Monique Miller and Robert VanVolkenburgh, also have on-hand totals far below the $10,000 mark.

In HD 48, Democrat Amy Mercado raised $4,450 in her competition against Alex Barrio, who raised $2,835.

Mercado, the daughter of current HD 48 Rep. Torres, has about $10,000 in the bank compared to $4,000 for Barrio. The winner of the two-way primary faces no-party candidate Gus Martinez, who has about $200 on hand.