Peter Schorsch
The Florida Retail Federation announced Wednesday they are endorsing State Rep. Frank Artiles in the race for Senate District 40.
“Frank has been a friend of retailing during his years as an influential member of the Florida House, and as a small business owner he understands the impact that onerous regulations can have in impacting a company’s ability to grow,” said FRF President and CEO Randy Miller. “Frank has supported Florida retailers before, and we look forward to working closely with him on growing our industry as a member of the Senate.”
Artiles is running against Democratic Sen. Dwight Bullard in the newly redrawn majority Hispanic district, which voted 10 points in favor of President Barack Obama in his 2012 re-election campaign.
Prior to the FRF endorsement, the third-term representative had picked up major endorsements from Associated Industries of Florida and Associated Builders and Contractors.
Despite running in a tough district, Artiles has been able to raise more than $550,000 for his campaign, and as of Sept. 16 he had more than $135,000 of that money on hand.
Bullard, for his part, has raised a total of about $160,000 and has about $55,000 of that money in the bank. Also running for the seat is no-party candidate Mario Jiminez, who has less than $1,000 in his campaign account.
