Drew Wilson
Tracey Kagan raised about $10,000 and put another $5,000 of her own cash on the line to take the top spot in the three-way Democratic Primary for HD 29.
The report, her first since entering the race, was good enough to beat incumbent Republican Rep. Scott Plakon’s $12,690 effort in April.
Outside of the loan and some “in-kind” contributions, the Longwood attorney brought in 64 donations. All but three of those came from donors chipping in $250 or less.
Her top contributors were Orlando homemaker Jackie Pollack and family member Janice Kagan, both of whom gave $1,000. Iris Stockton of Altamonte Springs came in just behind them with a $900 check near the end of the month. Spending was light, with a $587 printing job making up the bulk of her outflow.
Kagan started May with $14,229 in the bank.
She faces Lake Mary attorney Darryl Block and Longwood attorney Patrick Brandt in the Democratic Primary. Block kept up his slow and steady fundraising with $1,175 in new money last month, while Brandt laid an egg for the fourth consecutive month.
Block, who recently qualified for the ballot, has now raised just over $10,000, including $4,500 in candidate loans, since he filed for the race in January. He has about $4,900 in the bank. Brandt has raised $3,787 for his bid, though all of that came in before New Year’s. He has $1,325 on hand.
Far ahead in the race is Plakon, who is currently in the second term of his second stint in the Florida House.
His April report included 33 contributions topped by eight $1,000 checks. Half of those came in from the Strang family – both Steven Strang and Joy Strang gave, as did their companies, Stange Properties and Charisma Media.
The report brings his total fundraising up to $74,040. He finished the month with $67,630. He has another $9,185 stashed away in his political committee, Floridians for Prosperity and Economic Liberty, though it hasn’t added any cash since October.
HD 29 covers part of western Seminole County, including Heathrow, Lake Mary, Longwood, Wekiwa Springs and part of Sanford. There are about 7,500 more registered Republican voters than Democrats within its borders.
The seat is not a total reach for Democrats, however. In 2012, Democrat Mike Clelland pulled off a shocker by defeating former Republican Rep. Chris Dorworth by fewer than 150 votes. Dorworth was in line to be House Speaker after the 2014 elections.
Plakon kicked out Clelland with a 13-point win in 2014. He went unopposed two years later when Donald Trump carried the seat by about 4 points.
