Drew Wilson
Democrat Kubs Lalchandani has raised nearly $70,000 since entering the House District 113 race on Feb. 1, his campaign said Monday.
“I’m honored by the tremendous outpouring of support from so many who believe in my path to change Tallahassee. The Republican leadership in the Florida House continue to leave families behind and their efforts to undermine our public schools and environment must be challenged,” Lalchandani said in a press release.
“The future is here in so many other sectors of our society – it’s time our government reflected it with innovative policies that put people first and help them get ahead. Our leaders should be serving their constituents and working towards improving their lives. It’s time to break the mold, and we’re only getting started.”
Lalchandani is an alumnus of Cornell Law School and served as a clerk under Federal District Court Judge Patricia Seitz before entering private practice at international law firm White & Case. He eventually opened his current firm, Lalchandani Simon PL, which specializes in helping businesses use technology to grow their bottom line.
The candidate’s full report is not yet available through the Florida Division of Elections, though his campaign said it received contributions from 220 individual donors, which it said was “a sign of the things to come.”
The campaign also poked at Democratic Primary opponent Deede Weithorn, who had not yet hit the $70,000 milestone despite having a seven-month head start in the race.
Weithorn, a former member of the Miami Beach City Commission, had not filed her February campaign finance report as of Monday evening, though through January she had raised nearly $54,000 and had about $29,000 cash on hand.
Though she possibly lags behind in the fundraising race, Weithorn has pulled down a stack of local endorsements toward the end of 2017, including nods from Miami Beach Mayor Dan Gelber and commissioners Michael Gongora, Mark Samuelian, and Micky Steinberg.
Lalchandani and Weithorn are currently the only candidates vying for HD 113, a Democratic stronghold that covers southeastern Miami-Dade, including Miami Beach and North Bay Village.
The seat is opening up in 2018 due to Democratic Rep. David Richardson’s decision to run for Florida’s 27th Congressional District, which is currently held by retiring Republican U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen.
