Drew Wilson
Gainesville Republican Rep. Keith Perry scored a fundraising win over former Sen. Rod Smith in his final report before Florida’s primary election, but he still has a long way to go to catch up to his Democratic Senate District 8 rival.
Perry, who currently holds the HD 21 seat, brought in $48,850 between Aug. 13 and Aug. 25, including a whopping 37 checks for the maximum contribution of $1,000. The performance was a huge jump from previous two reports, which combined for a middling $5,725.
The third-term representative spent just $12,461, mainly on campaign staff, leaving him with about $216,000 on hand Aug. 25 on total fundraising of $385,000.
Through the same date, Smith had $276,000 in his campaign account and another $81,000 on hand for his political committee, “Independent Leadership for Florida.”
Though neither Perry nor Smith faced primary challengers, the former Florida Democratic Party chair brought in $17,500 in committee cash and $14,595 through his campaign in the two weeks leading up to the Aug. 30 election.
The biggest single donor was public employee trade group AFSCME, which chipped in $14,000 to Smith’s committee and another $1,000 to his campaign account. His campaign also received another $32,000 worth of “in kind” support from the Florida Democratic Party for polling and staffing costs.
The pre-primary report brings Smith’s to-date total to $915,000 across the two accounts, with $357,000 of that money on hand.
The Alachua County-based district holds a slight advantage for Democrats. Back in 2012, the district was carried by President Barack Obama by one point.
