Janelle Irwin Taylor
Tampa mayoral candidate David Straz dumped another $700,000 into his campaign, the latest finance reports show.
The retired banker and philanthropist has now paid nearly $4 million in his quest to succeed Bob Buckhorn. Straz has raised $3.66 million to date in his campaign, almost all of which came from his own wealth.
He’s contributed another $250,000 to an Electioneering Communications Organization affiliated with his campaign, though he did not put any more money into that fund during the most recent reporting period covering March 9-22.
Straz’s latest cash infusion shows he’s not backing down from his fight against former Tampa Police Chief Jane Castor despite a minimal public presence since making the runoff March 5.
Meanwhile, Castor raised $206,000 during the latest fundraising period, bringing her total campaign to more than $800,000. The latest report shows local and out-of-state real estate groups, developers and investors are largely funding her campaign.
She took in $1,000, the maximum contribution under state election law, from Tampa Bay Lightning owner Jeff Vinik as well as another $1,000 from his Strategic Property Partners and from JV Hockey Ventures, a group affiliated with Vinik and the Lightning.
The New York-based Bromely Investors group and its affiliated entities, which is behind the Midtown Tampa project, kicked in a total of $5,000.
Blake Casper who owns the Oxford Exchange and numerous McDonald’s chains in the area, donated the maximum contribution as did Armature Works. South Florida-based Coastal Construction and its related entities gave a total of $5,000.
Other notable contributions came from the Columbia Restaurant, Betty Castor, Frank Morsani, John Sykes and Tampa attorney Ron Christaldi who has been working on efforts to bring the Tampa Bay Rays to Tampa.
Castor spent $72,000 during the latest reporting period, most of that on advertising.
Straz, meanwhile, spent $341,000 including $95,000 to Nashville-based consultant Fletcher Ridge. That company accounts for the bulk of Straz’s overall spending.
Castor led Straz by more than 30 points in the March 5 election and leads by about the same, according to recent polls.
The Straz campaign has been mostly quiet since the election. He declined participation in most runoff campaign forums, citing voter fatigue. Instead, Straz has been hosting solo telephone town hall events the campaign claims have been well-attended. The campaign allowed media access for the first event, but didn’t offer participation in a second.
Meanwhile, Castor has been continuing to amass endorsements from local, state and national groups including from the Human Rights Campaign, which the group announced this week. Straz hasn’t announced any endorsements since before the March 5 election.
