Ryan Nicol
Former Miami Beach Commissioner Michael Grieco came out on top of the most recent fundraising period in House District 113 thanks to a $20,000 self-loan to his campaign.
Grieco is competing with another former Miami Beach Commissioner, Deede Weithorn, along with attorney Kubs Lalchandani for the Democratic nomination.
Grieco added just a single $250 outside donation from Aug. 4 through Aug. 10, according to documents filed with the Florida Division of Elections. That’s in addition to the $20,000 loan.
His campaign spent just over $16,000 during that period. More than $14,000 of that went toward mailers.
Overall, Grieco has brought in nearly $140,000 during his campaign. $45,000 of that comes in the form of self-loans. The Grieco campaign has spent just over $87,000, leaving it with just over $52,000 on hand.
Grieco’s political committee, Strong Leadership for South Florida, earned no contributions during the recent reporting period. That group maintains less than $1,000 cash on hand.
Lalchandani managed to wrangle $4,500 in outside donations during the period. About $3,000 of that came from various PACs.
Meanwhile, his campaign dropped a whopping $30,000 in that one-week period, almost all of which went to direct mail campaigns. Lalchandani still has about $17,000 on hand.
Weithorn matched Lalchandani with an identical $4,500 raised last period. She even topped his expenditures by a few thousand dollars. Again, the majority of that money went toward printing and mailing election materials.
That shows a strong effort by the candidates to get their message out ahead of the Aug. 28 primary.
Overall, Weithorn has about $57,000 on hand, topping her two Democratic opponents. That’s largely fueled by a $50,000 loan Weithorn made to her campaign back in May.
Jonathan Parker, the only Republican filed to run in the race, is lagging behind all three Democrats in terms of fundraising. He earned no donations during the last period and spent just under $200 on “internet service.” That leaves Parker with just about $8,400 cash on hand.
The candidates are competing to replace state Rep. David Richardson, who is pursuing a run for Congress in Florida’s 27th Congressional District.
