Keith Perry leads Rod Smith in cash on hand in SD 8 race

The latest finance reports in the high-profile race in Senate District 8 show that as of Oct. 21, Republican Keith Perry leads Democrat Rod Smith in cash-on-hand.

Perry has $82,865 on hand of the $645,152 he had raised in the campaign through Oct. 21.

The Republican raised $33,095 of that in the most recent week, a number bolstered by four $1,000 contributions from various Disney affiliates, as well as other maximum donations from the Florida Conservative Alliance and the Realtors PAC.

Roughly $44,000 of Perry’s $48,281 spend during the week was on ad buys, with the vast majority of that spent in the Gainesville and Ocala markets.

Smith has $46,125 on hand of the $617,730 he had raised in the campaign through Oct. 21.

In the most recent week, Smith outperformed Perry in terms of fundraising, adding $54,745 to his campaign account, with most of the contributions from Gainesville.

The biggest amount brought in: $5,000 from the Alachua County Democratic Executive Committee.

The most anomalous contribution: $78.13 from Gary Arabian, a San Francisco-based real estate broker.

Smith spent $34,872 during the week ending Oct. 21, the bulk of it on an ad shoot and buying time for the ad.