A.G. Gancarski
Congressional District 5 residents and interested parties will have to be in Tallahassee to party with Al Lawson on Election Night.
However, to donate to the campaign, one can be anywhere. And Lawson, a veteran legislator and professional lobbyist, has proven adept at securing capital.
From Oct. 20 to Nov. 3, Lawson has secured $59,400 in new money, with $9,200 of that coming on Halloween. New Oct. 31 donations came in from the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers, Democrats Reshaping America, and the National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisers. Another $5,000 came in Nov. 3 from the United Auto Workers.
Lawson, as of Oct. 19, had $103,020 on hand, of $241,573 raised and another $100,000 in personal loans. The extra $54,000 pushed him over $150,000, money he likely won’t need for the stretch run against the underfunded Smith.
Barring some mysterious movement in the next few days, Lawson will close this race having had access to over $400,000 of capital, compared to his GOP opponent, who ran her campaign on just over $77,000.
Smith’s recent contributions include $1,000 from the political committee of John Rutherford, who is running the political campaign equivalent of a homecoming game against underfunded Dave Bruderly, who got the Democratic nomination in CD 4 without opposition, though he lost a race for precinct committeeman on the same ballot.
As well, she garnered $2,059 in contributions on Nov. 3.
Smith, who was conspicuously absent from the Donald Trump rally in Jacksonville Thursday in an effort to run away from the Republican ticket, also seems to have been forsaken by the money people who would ordinarily support a GOP congressional candidate.
