Mitch Perry
Bill Nelson‘s campaign says the senator will report raising just over $2.4 million in the final three months of 2017. That brings him to more than $8 million cash-on-hand heading into this election year.
Nelson has represented Florida in the Senate since 2000. It’s widely expected that he’ll be challenged in his reelection bid this fall by Gov. Rick Scott, who has yet to declare his candidacy, but is expected to announce this spring ahead of the early May deadline.
Nelson received more than 30,600 contributions from more than 21,500 individual donors during last year’s final fundraising quarter.
The Florida Senator spent the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday participating in events in St. Petersburg, part of the Tampa Bay area media market, the biggest in Florida.
After defeating Republican Bill McCollum for an open seat in 2000, Nelson has been blessed with less than formidable opponents in his reelection bids in 2006 (Katherine Harris) and 2012 (Connie Mack IV).
But that won’t be the case if Scott is the GOP nominee. The former health care executive has shown that he is willing to spend big on his campaigns.
Scott raised more than $70 million in his victory for governor over Democrat Alex Sink in 2010, and another $12 million against Charlie Crist in 2014, both narrow victories.
