Janelle Irwin Taylor
Hillsborough County Commissioner Victor Crist continues to lead his Democratic opponent in fundraising efforts, but the gap between the candidates’ cash on hand is slight.
Crist has about $95,000 left in the bank with about four weeks before the November 6 election while Mariella Smith has $76,000.
A third candidate in the race, Joe Kotvas, has only raised $11,000 and has less than $1,000 left in his campaign coffers.
The candidates are running for the District 5 countywide seat currently held by Ken Hagan. Hagan is leaving that seat due to term limits and running for Crist’s current seat in the north Hillsborough District 2.
Crist, who has been serving on the commission in District 2 since 2010, is pulling in campaign contributions from some prominent people and groups.
He brought in 70 total contributions during the final two weeks of September. Of those, 18 came from outside Hillsborough County. Thirty contributions were for the maximum $1,000, 18 were for $500, and only two were for less than $100.
Donors include prominent South Florida lobbyists Ron Book who cut a personal check for $1,000 and then another through his firm. Rhea Law, chair of the Florida offices of Buchanan Ingersol and Rooney donated $500.
Tampa Bay Lightning owner Jeff Vinik also contributed $1,000 through one of his companies.
Crist also brought in $1,000 from TECO and another $1,000 from the energy PAC TEPAC.
Crist spent $3,400 during the most recent reporting period including $1,500 to AllPro Printing and $300 each to Frontier Communications and Spectrum.
Smith’s campaign finance activity takes on a different look than Crist’s. She brought in $38,000 during the most recent reporting period. Of that haul, $24,500 came from the Democratic Executive Committee in the form of multiple uniform contributions.
Other than that chunk, only three contributions were for the maximum allowable of $1,000. Thirty-six were for less than $100, which campaigns use to show grassroots support for a candidate or political initiative. Six contributions came from outside of Hillsborough County.
Tampa Mayoral candidate Ed Turanchik’s wife and daughter each cut a check to Smith’s campaign — his wife, Jenifer for $500 and daughter Laura for $25. Former Tampa City Council member Linda Saul-Sena contributed $50.
Smith also has backing from the plumbers and pipefitters union, which donated $1,000.
Smith spent a total of $6,500 during the last two weeks of September including $2,300 to Good Guy Signs for yard signs, $2,000 on printing services from Go Union Printing and $1,500 to the Florida Democratic Party for mailing lists.
