After winning Speaker’s race, a quiet month of fundraising for Paul Renner
U.S. Rep. Cory Mills delivering Starlink systems to Florida Highway Patrol. Image via Mills.

May saw blockbuster fundraising for “Florida Foundation for Liberty,” the political committee of future House Speaker Paul Renner.

The total May haul: $266,000.

With June obviously being where the rubber met the road in the leadership race, worth watching was how much of that May money was deployed, and to where it went.

It turned out that just over $38,000 went out the door in June (against $6,500 brought in during the same period).

Out of that money, two donations went to campaign accounts of Renner’s colleagues who were linked to the leadership race: Randy Fine, a serious candidate for most of the stretch; and Byron Donalds, who came up short in the June 30 ballot.

Each of them got $1,000 from the Renner committee, as did the campaign accounts of Bob Rommel of Naples, and Mel Ponder of Destin; Ponder’s money was for consulting, according to the report.

Jacksonville Rep. Jason Fischer‘s campaign account also got $1,000, and Fischer’s “Conservative Solutions for Jacksonville” committee got $5,000.

Other committees scoring $5,000 donations: “Florida Opinion Leaders” and current House Speaker Richard Corcoran‘s “Watchdog PAC,” in yet another indicator of the burgeoning alliance between the current Speaker and the future one.

Renner’s committee has roughly $240,000 on hand, and his campaign account has just over $30,000 in total, as he prepares for a 2018 rematch with St. Augustine Democrat Adam Morley.

A.G. Gancarski

A.G. Gancarski has been the Northeast Florida correspondent for Florida Politics since 2014. He writes for the New York Post and National Review also, with previous work in the American Conservative and Washington Times and a 15+ year run as a columnist in Folio Weekly. He can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter: @AGGancarski



#FlaPol

Florida Politics is a statewide, new media platform covering campaigns, elections, government, policy, and lobbying in Florida. This platform and all of its content are owned by Extensive Enterprises Media.

Publisher: Peter Schorsch @PeterSchorschFL

Contributors & reporters: Phil Ammann, Drew Dixon, Roseanne Dunkelberger, A.G. Gancarski, William March, Ryan Nicol, Jacob Ogles, Cole Pepper, Jesse Scheckner, Drew Wilson, and Mike Wright.

Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @PeterSchorschFL
Phone: (727) 642-3162
Address: 204 37th Avenue North #182
St. Petersburg, Florida 33704