Big spending for and by Rod Smith in competitive state Senate race

Both Republicans and Democrats have prioritized the race in the Gainesville-centric Senate District 8 race, and Democrat Rod Smith‘s latest campaign finance report provides yet more evidence that, for Democrats, this one is a must-win.

All told, Smith has raised $539,570, received $227,939 in in-kind contributions (largely staff and polling from the Florida Democratic Party), and spent $486,934.

Smith has just under $53,000 on hand, but what is clear is that the veteran politician will not be hurting for resources despite the aggressive burn rate thus far.

The last reporting period, spanning Oct. 1 to Oct. 7, stands as a microcosm of the larger effort.

The Florida Democratic Party spent $24,200 on polling for Smith, as part of $26,700 in in-kind contributions.

Meanwhile, Smith raised $26,125 in hard money from throughout the state in October’s first week, including $1,000 donations from the Florida Cow PAC and the Florida Ob/Gyn PAC.

Smith’s spending is the real story at this point, though.

During the first week of October, Smith spent $113,824, the third straight reporting period in which Smith has spent $113,000 and change.

Smith has spent consistently and aggressively on television buys since September began, and the first week of October was no exception.

Smith spent just over $108,000 on television time between Oct. 1 and Oct. 7.

In September, Smith spent just over $163,000 on television, with another $45,000 on a TV shoot and ad production.

As of Friday morning, his opponent, Keith Perry, had not posted his latest campaign finance numbers.

At the end of September, Perry had roughly $72,000 on hand.