Drew Wilson
Miami attorney Jason Pizzo put some more of his own money down heading into the final five days before the Democratic primary for Senate District 38.
Pizzo, a former prosecutor, lent his campaign another $30,000 and added $18,179 in outside money during the reporting period covering Aug. 11 through Aug. 23, bringing his to-date fundraising total to $491,650 including $350,000 in candidate loans.
The haul included a dozen max checks from some big-name donors, including three subsidiaries of Disney and a political committee tied to labor union SEIU, while the $56,000 spending tally included $23,600 in payments to MDW Communications for direct mailers and digital ads.
As of midnight Aug. 23, Pizzo had $46,850 at the ready.
Pizzo, the second place finisher in the 2016 SD 38 Democratic primary, going for a rematch against Democratic Sen. Daphne Campbell in the Miami Dade-based district, and a recent poll of the race showed him with a 14-point lead among likely primary voters.
If Campbell were to make a come-from-behind victory on Tuesday, she’d have to do it on a shoestring budget.
She showed $11,025 in new money in her final report and has now raised $146,494 overall, all of it from donors. That may best Pizzo’s outside fundraising, but when loans are included her campaign has been working less than a third of the resources.
And for the final five days, the campaign will only have $8,382 to send Campbell back to Tallahassee or send her home, wherever home may be.
SD 38 is a Democratic stronghold that covers parts of Miami-Dade County including Miami Beach, North Miami and Bal Harbour.
Campbell and Pizzo, both Democrats, are the only candidates for the seat. The Florida Constitution allows non-party members to participate in primary races if they will decide the winner of an election, so the SD 38 election will be open to all voters, regardless of party affiliation.
