Peter Schorsch
Tampa Republican Rep. Dana Young had more than $1.2 million on hand between her SD 18 campaign and committee accounts as of Aug. 25 while her opponent, Democrat Bob Buesing had $255,000.
Young brought in nearly $72,000 of that money during the Aug. 13 to Aug. 25 reporting period that led up to Florida’s primary election, despite facing no GOP opponent for the newly redrawn Hillsborough County seat.
On the donor roll during the two-week stretch were Florida Blue, Fontainebleau Resort and the Michael Corcoran-chaired political committee “Building a Better Florida,” each of which chipped in $10,000 to Young’s PAC.
On the campaign side, Young brought in 47 contributions, including 22 checks for the maximum of $1,000. Florida CPA-PAC, insurance company Aetna and telecom company Sprint were among the top donors.
Buesing also faced no primary opponent, though he raised more than $25,000 in his pre-primary report.
His ledger shows four $1,000 checks among his 117 contributions for the two-week reporting period, including a contribution from Tampa law firm Smoak, Chistonlini & Barnett. Most of Buesing’s haul, however, came in from individual donors.
The newly redrawn SD 18 includes Avila, Carrollwood, Davis Islands, Lutz, MacDill Air Force Base, Odessa, South Tampa and Westchase. District statistics show Democrats have a 40 percent share of the electorate compared to a 36 percent share for Republicans. Back in 2012, President Barack Obama carried the district by 1 point.
Also running are no-party candidates Joe Redner and Sheldon Upthegrove, though neither candidate has shown much in the way of fundraising, though the pair pulled in a combined 18 percent support in a St. Pete Polls survey from August.
