Hillsborough Co. Commissioners up big in re-election fundraising

Incumbent Hillsborough County Commissioner Stacy White has continued piling on cash in his District 4 re-election bid, while fellow Commissioners Victor Crist and Ken Hagan are each far ahead as they look to swap seats on the seven-member panel.

White, first elected in 2014, added a couple thousand dollars to his war chest during the first couple weeks of the month, bringing his overall fundraising total to $187,261, with just shy of $100,000 of that money still left to spend seven weeks out from the Nov. 6 general election.

White, whose District 4 seat includes much of south and western Hillsborough County, faces Democratic challenger Andrew Davis in the general election. To date, Davis has raised $7,879 for his campaign, though he only has about $850 left in the tank.

Crist, the current District 2 commissioner, is running for the countywide District 5 seat held by Hagan. His new report showed a healthy $16,550 in receipts alongside less than $1,000 in spending, bringing his campaign’s overall total to $147,630 with just shy of $56,000 on hand last Friday.

Crist’s overall fundraising beats the combined records of his two challengers, Democratic nominee Mariella Smith and unaffiliated candidate Joe Kotvas. Smith has raised just over $99,000 so far and has $44,000 in the bank, while Kotvas has raised $10,125 and has and has $575 left to spend.

Hagan, who is looking to move from his countywide seat into Crist’s northern Hillsborough one, only showed $1,500 in new money collected during the two-week reporting period, though his overall fundraising efforts dwarf those of his lone challenger, Democratic nominee Angela Birdsong.

Through Sept. 14, Hagan had raised more than $487,000 in hard money and had more than $350,000 of that cash ready to deploy. Birdsong, meanwhile, has raised $27,817 and has $6,260 on hand.

The fourth seat on the 2018 ballot, the countywide District 7, won’t feature any incumbents. Todd Marks, who overcame a major fundraising gap to defeat Aakash Patel in the Republican primary election, currently leads in overall fundraising in the three-way race between him, Democratic nominee Kimberly Overman, and Green Party candidate Kim O’Connor.

Marks, an attorney, received $16,575 in contributions in his new report, which accounts for most of his on-hand cash after the bruising primary battle. He’s now raised nearly $176,000 overall and has a little less than $18,000 in his campaign account.

Overman, meanwhile, has raised $77,321 thus far and had $13,300 banked, while O’Connor is currently the cash leader with $26,000 raised and all but $50 of that money still in her campaign account.

The District 2, 4, 5 and 7 seats will all be on the Nov. 6 general election ballot, alongside other county government seats including sheriff and four school board districts.