A.G. Gancarski
The Jacksonville City Council District 14 race, a Riverside/Avondale/Ortega seat, continued in June with active fundraising from the leading candidates.
While Republican Randy DeFoor remains the cash leader, Democrat Sunny Gettinger gained ground again last month, setting the stage for what will be a costly race (at least by district Council standards), which likely won’t be decided until the May general election.
Gettinger, in the race for five months, never raised less than $10,000; June was no exception.
The Ivy-educated former chair of Riverside Avondale Preservation, professionally a communications manager for Google Fiber, raked in $15,835 off 69 contributions.
Among the bigger names cutting June checks: former Councilwoman Ginny Myrick and Sherry Magill, the former executive director of the non-profit Jessie Ball DuPont Fund.
Worth noting: Magill, an ally of former City Council President Anna Brosche, was co-chair of a Council task force, whose final report was heavily critical of Mayor Lenny Curry‘s administration regarding transparency issues.
Despite nearly $80,000 on hand, Gettinger will have to continue outperforming DeFoor to attain parity. Even after a month where DeFoor, a senior vice president and National Agency Counsel for Fidelity National Financial, raised just $9,800 between her campaign account and that of her political committee, the Republican still has over $142,000 on hand.
Also, DeFoor is attracting the kinds of hard money donors who, if inclined, are comfortable ponying up soft money on the committee side. Among them: Shad Khan and his Jacksonville Jaguars, W.W. Gay, Stellar, and Build Something That Lasts, Curry’s political committee.
The field is five people strong, with three male candidates behind the women in terms of finance.
Democrat Jimmy Peluso, yet to file June numbers at this writing, raised more than $26,000 in May. Republican Earl Testy stalled out with $164 in the bank; newly registered Henry Mooneyhan has yet to report any fundraising.
