Jim Waldman antes up as Gary Farmer piles on committee cash
Jim Waldman returns to challenge Gary Farmer. (Image via browardbeat.com)

Jim-Waldman-fundraiser

Former Democratic Rep. Jim Waldman dumped six figures into his Senate District 34 bid, but his self-funding was outpaced by another major haul for incumbent Democratic Sen. Gary Farmer.

Waldman’s $150,000 campaign loan was disclosed on his new campaign finance report covering July 7 through July 20. Alongside the loan came another 16 checks, including 11 for $1,000, the maximum allowable contribution for state legislative campaigns.

In all, the Pompano Beach attorney has brought in $11,716 in outside money and kicked in another $157,500 in candidate loans since his surprise entry into the race on the last day of the candidate qualifying period. He had $167,332 in the bank on July 20.

Farmer’s campaign has only reported its contributions through July 6 — the new report isn’t due until Friday. His political committee, which must post a finance report weekly through Election Day, showed a massive haul for the July 7 through July 13 reporting period.

Floridians for Ethics, Accountability and Responsibility brought in $340,000 for the week. Sensible Gun Laws Now, a political committee chaired by Alejandro Alvarez, chipped in $100,000 of that total. Farmer, an attorney at Morgan & Morgan, brought in another $225,000 via checks from 11 law firms from all corners of the state.

The committee spent more than $22,000 on direct mail consulting and kicked another $1,000 over to Farmer’s campaign account, leaving it with $786,000 banked on July 13. As of July 6, the campaign account had $121,730 at the ready.

Farmer was elected to the Florida Senate in 2016 after taking 43 percent of the vote in a three-way primary against former Rep. Gwyn Clarke-Reed and Waldman, who finished third with a smidge over 28 percent of the vote.

SD 34 is a Democratic stronghold that covers coastal Broward County. No Republican qualified for the race, but due to a write-in candidate posting the ballot fee the otherwise open Aug. 28 primary election will be closed to voters who are not registered Democrats.

The primary election is Aug. 28.

Drew Wilson

Drew Wilson covers legislative campaigns and fundraising for Florida Politics. He is a former editor at The Independent Florida Alligator and business correspondent at The Hollywood Reporter. Wilson, a University of Florida alumnus, covered the state economy and Legislature for LobbyTools and The Florida Current prior to joining Florida Politics.



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