Janelle Irwin Taylor
Tampa City Council candidate Bill Carlson continues to grow his fundraising lead in the South Tampa District 4 race.
Carlson raised $21,000 in the first half of February, the latest campaign finance reports show. That brings his total campaign haul to $127,000 — more than $100,000 more than Lee Lowry and $90,000 more than Sal Guagliardo Jr.
Carlson pulled in contributions from a variety of notable sources including $250 from former Tampa City Council member Mary Mulhern, $100 from St. Pete City Council member Darden Rice and $500 from Jeff Vinik’s Strategic Property Partners. SPP also donated $500 to Lowry’s campaign.
Other contributions for Carlson’s campaign came from the local ironworkers union, St. Pete Mayor Rick Kriseman’s Political Action Committee, Sunrise PAC, the Gray Robinson law firm, local firefighters and former Florida Senate candidate Bob Buesing.
Carlson also received $3,000 from three different Realtor organizations.
He’s spent $64,000 including $7,100 this report for campaign consulting and various fees.
Guagliardo, by contrast, raised just $350. He spent $1,240 on printing services from Unlimited Printing in Tampa leaving his cash on hand at about $13,000.
Lowry raised $5,300 bringing her total raised to $21,000. In addition to SPP, Lowry received contributions from the Tampa Police Benevolent Association and several local voters.
She spent $8,900 mostly on campaign consulting from Strategic Solutions of Florida, the public policy and campaign shop associated with conservative consultant April Schiff.
Lowry also posted a $950 in-kind contribution from Sandi Santos Photography for campaign photos.
The three candidates are running to replace Harry Cohen who is leaving office due to term limits and running for Mayor.
Election Day is March 5. Early voting has already started and runs through March 3. Nearly 14,000 voters have already voted by mail.
