Peter Schorsch
Clearwater Republican Sen. Jack Latvala and incoming Senate President Joe Negron buried the hatchet long ago and, according to the most recent numbers from Latvala’s political committee, the two are very much playing on the same team.
On Nov. 2, the Florida Leadership Committee, which served as Latvala’s war chest during the race for the Senate presidency, put $300,000 into the Florida Republican Senatorial Campaign Committee chaired by Negron.
FRSCC has not updated its financials to reflect that, though at that point it had raised more than $16.6 million and had nearly $10 million of that money on hand.
The committee’s numbers are sure to be monstrous when released, especially with Latvala and the committees of other top Senate Republicans putting their fundraising might behind it.
Bradenton Sen. Bill Galvano’s committee shows an unofficial tally of $425,000 in transfers to the FRSCC since Oct. 28, while fellow future Senate President and Trilby Republican Sen. Wilton Simpson has also chipped in heavily in recent weeks. His committee, “Jobs for Florida,” shows $400,000 heading to FRSCC since Oct. 24.
The committee has a lot of state Senate candidates to support this cycle, with formerly safe Republican seats transformed into tight districts after Florida courts ordered that legislative maps be redrawn.
Among the top targets for both parties are the Senate District 8 contest between Republican Rep. Keith Perry and former Democratic Sen. Rod Smith; the SD 18 race between Republican Rep. Dana Young and Democratic attorney Bob Buesing; the battle between Republican Sen. Miguel Diaz de la Portilla and Democratic Rep. Jose Javier Rodriguez in SD 37; and Republican Rep. Frank Artiles, race against Democratic Sen. Dwight Bullard in SD 40.
