A.G. GancarskiCorrection: A previous version of this post misidentified a consultant for Sen. Travis Hutson. We regret the error.
Northeast Florida’s State Senators continued strong fundraising in November. Three of them for re-election, and another on the committee level only.
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Sen. Aaron Bean brought in $14,600 in new November money to his campaign account, pushing the hard money tally over $84,000.
The most interesting Bean Team donation, amidst the usual daps from construction and pharma: $2,000 from the auction industry (Stuart’s “Florida Auctioneer Academy” and an associated auction house cut the checks).
Bean’s political committee, Florida Conservative Alliance, brought in $11,500 — pushing that cash on hand to $91,752. “Consumer Health Alliance” was in for $10,000, and prison industry darlings The Geo Group kicked in $1,500.
All told, Bean has over $175,000 to deploy, 11 months ahead of an election in which he runs unopposed.
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Also unopposed, and carrying a six-figure bankroll into a 2018 election: Sen. Audrey Gibson.
The Jacksonville Democrat is the leader-designate for Senate Dems, and for the fourth straight month she brought in over $10,000. Gibson has raised $118,268, and has $102,095.82 of that on hand.
Among Gibson’s donors: Dosal Tobacco Company, Florida Bankers Association PAC, Florida Home Builders, Wal-Mart and Walgreens.
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Though he’s not on a ballot again until 2020, St. Johns County Sen. Travis Hutson is likewise gearing up — even if, like Bean and Gibson, meaningful opposition won’t manifest.
Hutson, Chairman of the Senate Regulated Industries committee, brought in $5,000 of December money, via five $1,000 checks: Dosal Tobacco, United Phosphorus, and Isle of Capri Casinos all anted up.
Hutson dropped $6,000 on consulting to Front Street Consulting.
Hutson has almost $38,000 in hard money.
One of Hutson’s affiliated political committees, First Coast Business Foundation, didn’t report money raised in November — leaving that committee around $13,000 on hand.
His primary political committee, Sunshine State Conservatives, was a different matter.
That committee brought in $101,000 in November, with real estate, pharmaceutical, petroleum, and gaming interests represented. The committee has over $103,000 on hand.
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Though Sen. Rob Bradley is not on a ballot, his political committee — Working for Florida’s Families — continues to put in work.
Bradley took over the Appropriations chair recently in the Senate, and the donor class has taken notice.
The committee had its best month ever in November … both in terms of money raised and the purpose of money spent.
The committee raked in $124,000 of new November money, spending $55,487 of that. All told, the committee closed November with $572,151 on hand.
But those are just numbers. One particular transaction is most interesting.
Of the $55,487 spent, $50,000 of it went to Mercy Support Services, an Orange Park non-profit that addresses the issue of youth homelessness.
The charitable spend was driven by Hurricane Irma. The storm hit Clay County especially hard, and Bradley saw an opportunity to help.
“Mercy is leading the Clay County community’s response to the devastation from Hurricane Irma. Rep. Cummings and I both agreed to support and help make successful the recent concert event where Molly Hatchet and Lynyrd Skynyrd performed and raised money to help displaced families in our community,” Bradley said.
