Drew Wilson
The committee supporting Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam’s bid for Governor brought in more than $1.77 million in March, according to documents posted on its website.
The March tally is Florida Grown’s best since February 2017, when it brought in $2.25 million. The committee’s total fundraising now stands at nearly $21.9 million since it was established three years ago.
The PAC brought in more than 100 contributions in March, with two-thirds measuring in at $10,000 or more, though just five donors made up more than half the total haul.
Topping the donor roll last month was the Associated Industries Florida, which gave a combined $300,000 between two of its political committees – AIF PAC and Voice of Florida Business.
Disney Worldwide was the No. 2 donor with a pair of $100,000 checks, one sent on March 16 and another on the last day of the month. Floridians for a Stronger Democracy, a political committee chaired by Ryan Tyson, pitched in $150,000.
The Florida Chamber of Commerce gave a total of $100,000, $75,000 from its Florida Jobs PAC and another $25,000 from the Florida Chamber of Commerce PAC. Florida Citrus Mutual Committee rounded out the top-5 donors with a $75,000 check.
Three of the top-5 in the March report have been consistent givers throughout Putnam’s campaign. Prior to March, Florida Grown had received nearly $2 million from AIF’s committees, $1.6 million from the Chamber’s, and $539,000 from Disney.
Committee spending came in at $328,000 and included a nearly $110,000 payment to Arlington, Va.-based Targeted Victory for advertising, consulting, email and design services.
Following that payment, was a $44,000 spend to Alexandria, Va.-based Sandler-Innocenzi Inc. for media production, $40,000 to Silloh Consulting for a long list of services, and a $20,800 payment to Tallahassee-based Forward Strategies for fundraising consulting.
Florida Grown has not yet filed its March report with the Florida Division of Elections, though based on the reports available on its website, it is likely to show nearly $16 million on hand heading into April.
Putnam is running against Northeast Florida U.S. Rep. Ron DeSantis in the Republican Primary to replace termed out Gov. Rick Scott. House Speaker Richard Corcoran is likely to join the primary race in the coming weeks.
Putnam leads the field in fundraising by several million dollars. The next closest candidate is Democrat Philip Levine, who had raised $11 million for his bid through the end of March.
